Atlantis Rising

by James E. Wisher

  “Not much chance of that after the military used your toys to try and kill me. How long before they try again, this time with a hundred magic-proof guys? I don’t think so.”

  He slumped. “Then I’m doomed.”

  “Mom says you’re pretty bright. I’m sure you’ll figure something out. Let’s go, Kai.”

  They entered the library and Conryu immediately conjured a viewing window. Connel recovered quickly, retrieving his shoes and hurrying toward the Science Department building. Conryu willed the library to follow him and as he hoped, the building’s wards couldn’t stop the library’s unique magic from entering. It seemed the government used the same sort of magic that Shizuku used to protect the apartment building. Pretty standard and generally effective, but not against everything.

  They followed him through empty halls to an equally empty lab filled with tables, computers, and all manner of technical things Conryu couldn’t begin to name. Connel went straight to a massive metal door and punched a ten-digit code into the control panel. Next he stared into an opening while a scanner ran over his open eye.

  The door swung ponderously open and Connel went in. He was back out seconds later with a rectangular case. When he reached his desk, he removed a gray crystal that was a twin to the ones the assassins carried.

  “Ready, Kai?”

  She nodded. Conryu backed into a dark corner and opened the library door. Kai slipped out, silent as a shadow. Not that Connel would have noticed if she started playing the trumpet right in his ear.

  With Kai in place, Conryu went to create a distraction. The trick was to have it be serious enough to set off the alarms, but not have anyone realize it was him doing it. As he left the lab and flew up into the sky, Conryu settled on a few lightning strikes. But first he’d need a storm.

  At about five thousand feet, he stepped out of the library, invisible of course, and started spinning the staff over his head. Dark clouds quickly gathered followed by rumbles of thunder. He let the storm build, quickly, but not too quickly. Just a pop-up late summer storm, nothing extraordinary.

  When his storm had grown to his satisfaction, Conryu nudged the electrical current, building it up and guiding the energy. The first bolt hit a car in the nearly empty parking lot and blew it to smithereens. The next two crashed into the building’s wards, lighting them up but doing no harm. Heavy rain and winds came next.

  Five minutes after the storm began, Kai’s head appeared beside him. “It’s done, Chosen.”

  “Good. Let’s go collect my mom and head to the Academy. I think she, Maria, and Dean Blane need to have a long talk.”

  Chapter 15

  Merik wasn’t sure how long he’d been in Atlantis. There was no night or day, just a steady light that seemed to come from everywhere without a definite source. He hadn’t eaten since he arrived, yet he felt no hunger. Tanidel said it was a function of the city’s magic. They existed outside of the normal time stream, so thirst, hunger and aging were basically suspended. Boredom, unfortunately, was still an issue.

  After Tanidel had led him to a suite larger than his house, fully decorated with crystal furniture, she left him to his own devices. The survivors hadn’t offered to speak with him again. The more he thought about it, the more that first meeting felt like they were just going through the motions. Merik had done what they needed him to and now he was cast aside, his services no longer required.

  That was how he felt at least. Since he knew nothing about how their crystal magic worked, he had little to offer in the way of help in preparing for the city’s return. Surely when they got back, he would have an important role to play.

  A powerful vibration ran through the room, raising goosebumps on the back of his arm. Merik hopped out of his hard crystal chair and walked toward the area of the wall where the door appeared. At least it appeared for Tanidel, he had no actual idea how to get out of the room. Merik did his best not to think of it as a prison cell.

  Ten feet from the entrance, the wall opened revealing Tanidel outside.

  “I felt something strange,” Merik said.

  “We have reached the edge of the human realm. The others are preparing to make the transition. We all wanted you to be there to witness our return. Come with me.”

  He fell in beside her and they walked out of the tower. She led him toward the center of the city.

  As they walked Merik said, “I thought you’d forgotten about me.”

  “I apologize for that. The preparations for our return have taken every moment. Even with the path marked, shifting an object the size of the city is no easy feat.”

  Her polite apology and explanation made his fears seem petty. Of course they were focused on other things. “It’s okay. I just wish you had cable or something.”

  “Cable?”

  Right, of course they knew nothing about television. “Did you have some way to watch the world during your exile?”

  “We could open portals for a short time, but it took so much energy and the information gained was largely useless, so we abandoned the effort ages ago.”

  “Man, are you all going to be in for a surprise. The world has gone through some serious changes since you left.”

  “Yes, I saw many of them in your memories when our minds were linked. It should prove interesting. Here we are.”

  Tanidel had led him to a massive red crystal. It towered over the eleven figures standing in a circle around it. The crystal was the same color as the key he’d found and his allies used to recall the city.

  “Welcome to the heart of Atlantis,” Tanidel said. “Keep a few feet back while we complete the ritual.”

  She stepped into the gap in their circle and took the hands of the Atlanteans to her left and right. The twelve of them raised their silent gazes to the sky and their bodies began to glow. The red crystal picked up the light and shaded everything crimson.

  A vibration ran through Merik.

  It grew in intensity until he feared he might be rattled to pieces.

  When his teeth were on the verge of popping out of his head it stopped.

  A startled squawk drew his attention upward. White clouds dotted the clear blue sky and a single seagull glided away from the towers.

  They were back at last.

  The survivors broke their circle and moved his way. If they were tired their crystal bodies gave no indication. No matter what they never seemed to change. If he was honest it gave him the creeps; looking at their blank facial expressions was like staring at a mask, he couldn’t get a read on their intentions.

  “What happens now?” Merik asked.

  “The ancestors of Lemuria will have sensed our return,” one of the men said. “The city is protected from their magic as are we. Still, we must move quickly before they can attempt to isolate us. The religious fanatics that hate wizards, they will be our natural allies. Merik, you will introduce three of us to their leader. The rest of us will prepare our weapons for the coming war. Go quickly.”

  Tanidel took the lead, setting a brisk pace toward the eastern edge of the city. The two men – he really needed to make up names for them – fell in behind her, leaving Merik to bring up the rear. He had no idea where they were going, or where the city was for that matter. He assumed somewhere off the coast of the Kingdom of the Isles near Stonehenge, given that was where the tether was, but for all he knew they could have appeared anywhere on the planet.

  Ten minutes later they reached the edge of the city. Merik had expected to see the ocean, not a sheer cliff. He looked over and about three hundred feet below them saw the white caps of the waves.

  “I didn’t know Atlantis was a flying city,” he said.

  “It wasn’t originally,” Tanidel said. “It was the capital city of a large island nation. That island is long gone now. We transformed a number of the crystal towers into lift generators. The city can’t fly but does levitate and we can generate a field that makes us invisible to anyone nearby. It even hides us from magical detection.”
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br />   The two men, Larry and Curly, Merik decided to call them, were crouched a few feet away, their hands touching the crystal at the edge of the cliff. As Merik watched, a flat-bottomed boat slowly took shape.

  “It’s going to take a long time to row to the archbishop’s palace.”

  “Do you see any oars?” Tanidel asked. “This boat can fly.”

  After three conversations with the leader of the Ministry of Magic, it was clear to Sienna that Jemma wasn’t taking her warnings seriously. Sienna rolled over on her back and stared up at the white ceiling. The healing and rest had done wonders to restore her strength. It was time to get out of here and get back to her mission.

  What that mission was now, she was less certain. Her sense of time was scrambled, but Atlantis’s return had to be imminent. No one knew more about the enemy than she did, though Sienna knew little enough. She should be out searching for a way to stop them, not lying around dressed in a paper gown.

  She rolled out of bed and stood on the cool tile. It was time to go. But first clothes.

  There was a tall, narrow closet just inside the door. Maybe she could find something useful in there. There were some pants made out of rough blue cloth nearly as flimsy as her gown. She pulled them on anyway and tucked the gown in around them. If anyone saw her on the street, they’d think she escaped from a mental institute. Fortunately, Sienna didn’t intend to travel by foot.

  She concentrated, trying to slip into the realm of wind. No portal formed. As she feared, some ward prevented portals from opening in the building. A perfectly reasonable precaution for a place like this.

  Before she could step into the hall, the door opened and her nurse came in. The woman in white gave her outfit one look and said, “Going somewhere?”

  “Yes. I thank you for healing my wounds, but I have lingered here far too long. If you would return my sword, I will be on my way.”

  “I’m not sure where your sword is, but I do know the director wouldn’t approve of you leaving. Why don’t you lie back down and I’ll go find her?”

  “Unless I’m a prisoner, I’m leaving, with or without my sword.”

  Sienna took a step toward the door, but the nurse didn’t budge. She’d never fought a fellow wizard before, but there was a first time for everything.

  “Step aside, please. I have no wish to harm you.”

  “I tried to be nice about this, but my orders are not to let you out of this room. Ahh!” The nurse crumpled to her knees.

  A jagged lance of pain ran through Sienna’s head. It was so much stronger than her previous encounters with Atlantean magic that she had no doubt what it meant. Atlantis had returned.

  As quick as it came the pain vanished.

  Before she could recover, Sienna kicked the nurse in the side of the head. She went limp.

  Sienna started to step over the body then thought better of it. The nurse wasn’t much shorter than her. A uniform would attract much less attention than her gown and pants. A few minutes of work found Sienna dressed in the nurse’s white robe and the nurse tucked up under the covers of Sienna’s bed.

  She stepped out into the hall and turned right, looking for an exit sign. There had to be a door somewhere around here. A few feet away was a semicircular table covered with computers and phones. Another woman in white manned the station. She was massaging her temples. The appearance of Atlantis would have struck wizards all over the world. Before the nurse could glance her way, Sienna walked to her left.

  The infirmary wasn’t huge and she quickly spotted the exit. Unfortunately, the door had a magical pad beside it. Sienna grabbed the handle, but as she feared it was locked. The pad had to be what activated the lock, but she had no idea how to use it. She glanced out the little window and spotted a figure in a black robe headed toward her.

  Jemma was coming with more questions. Sienna had no more time to waste. She could sense how powerful the woman in black was. If she had to fight her way out, she was doomed before the first spell was cast.

  Sienna darted back to the nearest room and shoved the door open. It was exactly the same as her room. Smashing the heavy glass of the window wouldn’t be easy, but it was her only way out.

  She put her hand to the window and cast, “Icy spirits of the north, grant me your blessing. Frozen Burst!”

  Frost creeped out, covering the window until it was frosted over. Sienna grabbed the guest chair and hurled it at the pane.

  The window shattered.

  She climbed up on the ledge just as the door opened behind her.

  “Stop!” Jemma shouted.

  There was no magic behind the command.

  Sienna leapt.

  They were only five stories up, but that was plenty of time for her to shift into the realm of wind. Safe in the spirit’s realm, for the moment at least, she flew as far and as fast as she could away from the Ministry.

  During their conversations, Jemma thought she was learning from Sienna, but Sienna had learned a thing or two as well. The most important of which was the name of the foremost expert on the strongest wizard in the world. She needed to speak to her old friend Angus.

  If anyone could help her stop Atlantis, it was Conryu Koda.

  Jemma sat at her desk, hardly able to contain her anger. Somehow, her people had allowed the only person that could offer any explanation for the strange surge of energy to escape. Granted they weren’t at their best. Jemma’s head was still throbbing after that spike of pain. She refused to believe it was a coincidence. Whatever happened had to have something to do with this Atlantis business.

  She ground her teeth. Atlantis. There was no way she could deny the possibility, however unlikely it appeared. There was a knock on her door and Celia stuck her head in. “Wind wizards report no sign of her and the spirits aren’t talking. What do you want to do?”

  “Call them back. I’m sure she’s long gone by now.”

  Celia nodded and ducked back out. If the spirits refused to tell her people where Sienna had gone, it meant she had their blessing for whatever she was doing. That also implied that Jemma shouldn’t interfere. One of the unspoken rules of wizardry was that when the spirits chose a side, you respected that.

  Politics, alas, had different rules. She was ready to make her report to the crown. Assuming the king didn’t laugh her out of her post, she’d have to explain how she let Sienna escape. Not a conversation she was looking forward to.

  Another knock drew a groan. “Not now, Celia.”

  The door opened anyway. A man she didn’t recognize stood in her doorway. He was dressed in a blue uniform and clutched a beret in his left hand. “Beg pardon, ma’am, but I was sent over by the Royal Air Force. Our weather stations recorded some strange readings a few minutes ago and they wanted the opinion of the Ministry about whether it was a magical phenomenon. The lass at the front desk sent me to ask you.”

  The last thing she needed was an interdepartmental consultation. Wait. “Do you have the exact time?”

  He pulled a notepad out of his back pocket. “Two twenty-three and fifteen seconds.”

  Jemma checked the clock on her desk. That was exactly when the first instant of pain stabbed every wizard she’d spoken to in the head.

  She leapt to her feet. “Take me to whoever recorded those readings.”

  Jemma and her new companion made the short walk from the Ministry Building to military headquarters three blocks down the street. The Royal Air Force operated out of an ugly, square building six stories tall and topped with all manner of antennas and dishes. In addition to protecting the Kingdom from any airborne threat, the RAF also tracked the weather to as precise a degree as possible. She suspected they spent more time on that than they did flying considering no enemy had attacked the island from the air in a century. At least no enemy the RAF had a hope of defeating.

  The young man held the door for Jemma then guided her through a nearly empty waiting room to an elevator. They rode up to the top floor in silence. She got the distinct impres
sion that she intimidated him. Jemma was used to that reaction. She intimidated pretty much everyone she met for the first time.

  The bell chimed and they stepped out into a hallway running left and right. Her guide turned right and made the brief walk to a closed door. He rapped twice and opened it.

  Behind a desk covered with computer monitors sat a man with an iron-gray beard dressed in a blue uniform decorated with a dozen medals. He stood when she entered and they shook hands. His gaze was steady and grip firm. Nice to see someone at the RAF had some steel in them.

  “When I sent off for a consultant,” the officer said in a thick Scottish accent. “I didn’t think the bloody idiot would bring the head of the Ministry back with him. Colonel Cable at your service, ma’am. Won’t you sit?”

  Jemma sat in one of the chairs facing his desk. Cable waved his subordinate off and the door closed a moment later.

  “Seeing as how you’ve come yourself; I assume calling for help was a good decision. Truth is I’ve never seen a sudden burst of wind like this. Not to mention a crack of thunder that came out of nowhere on a perfect sunny day. If it isn’t magic, then I don’t know.”

  “Can you show me exactly where the readings were recorded?” Jemma asked.

  “Sure can.” Cable spun one of his three monitors so she could see it then punched a command into his keyboard. “There you are.”

  A map of the island appeared along with the surrounding water. A flashing red light indicated the anomaly’s location. It was only a few miles away from Stonehenge. A large mass appearing suddenly would certainly explain both the wind and the thunder. She needed to be sure.

  “Do you have any surveillance aircraft available?”

  “None in the air, but we can scramble one in fifteen minutes.”

  “Does your place have room for a passenger?”

  “Sure, will you send one of your people over?”