Agents of Artifice p-1

by Ari Marmell

  This was Ravnica at her richest-but even here she was slowly dying, just a tiny bit more every day since the guilds fell. She was beautiful still, but beneath her expert makeup she was an aged courtesan, growing ever more sickly and infirm. And whether the city would recover from the travails of the past generation to rise once more into something greater, or whether she would collapse under her own weight, even the farthest-sighted oracles would not say.

  Near the uppermost levels, in the midst of that broad and sloping avenue, Jace Beleren sat beneath a parasol at an open air cafe called Heavenly Ambrosias and sipped a glass of cold mint tea. Though his hair was perhaps a few inches longer than the current fashion, and he eschewed a full beard in favor of a clean-shaven jaw, he looked every inch the Ravnican aristocrat. His garb was of the finest cloths and leathers, dyed not in the bright and garish hues of the middle classes, so desperate to show off, but in the somber but much richer colors of the truly affluent. His fine tunic and pants of supple suede were both midnight blue, his vest a black so deep one could almost have fallen into it. But most magnificent was his cloak, a flowing liquid hue that could have been a sliver of the darkest oceanic depths. The buttons and clasps of vest and cloak-and there were many of them, as befit the current styles-were all of burnished silver and boasted an array of symbols that looked arcane and mysterious to the uninitiated but were in fact utterly meaningless. Jace just thought they looked nice.

  Across from him, drinking something Jace couldn't pronounce but that certainly packed more of a punch than his own mint tea, was-well, not a friend, exactly, but close enough. Rulan was clad much like Jace himself, though he preferred deep reds and purples to Jace's unrelenting blue and black. And unlike Jace, Rulan boasted a full, tidily trimmed beard.

  A beard that, at the moment, had captured a bit of the foam from Rulan's alcoholic whatever-it-was. Jace didn't point it out.

  "… half of what's left," Rulan said, continuing the thought he'd begun before taking a heavy swig. Casually, he passed a small coin purse across the table. Jace lifted it, scowled at its weight-or, more accurately, the lack thereof.

  "Half?" he asked doubtfully. "Really?"

  "Half," Rulan confirmed. "And that's all the accounts, under all your names, put together."

  The scowl grew, if anything, darker than the outfit beneath it. Jace took a moment to look out over the wall of the terrace to the glistening waters far, far below.

  "Maybe you ought to be charging me less of a commission, then," he offered.

  Rulan snickered and took another deep gulp of his drink-a drink that Jace, reluctantly, was paying for. "You find another banker willing to keep accounts in four different districts, under four different names, and see what sort of deal he'll offer you." He belched once, covering his mouth with the back of a well manicured hand, and then frowned. "Berrim," he said more seriously-for that was the name by which he knew his young client, the name under which Jace did all his business in Dravhoc-"you know I'm giving you a damned good deal already."

  "Yeah, I know."

  "Then I suggest," Rulan said, rising to his feet, "that you consider either a somewhat less extravagant lifestyle or a somewhat more extravagant income." He bowed once, with an almost ludicrous flourish, and left his bemused companion to pay the tab.

  Swirling a mouthful of tea around his tongue, Jace lifted the coin purse, let it sit in the palm of his hand. Half? He was going to have to find another "patron," and none too swiftly. He'd always been careful about how much he demanded, how heavily he wielded the secrets that he found so easy to acquire, but he wondered now if perhaps he hadn't been too conservative with his latest mark. Grumbling to himself in a very un-aristocratic manner, he turned his gaze once more to the river below. He always found it calming, but today it offered minimal comfort. Perhaps…

  A surge of fear from the other customers of the cafe, a tide of emotion Jace could sense without effort, was his only warning. Instincts born partly of experience, and partly ingrained in his mind and soul as his birthright, had him toppling sideways in his chair and ducking under the heavy table before his conscious mind even identified the threat. A blast of searing fire roared from the heavens and sprayed across the stone under which he huddled. His lungs felt seared by the heated air, and he smelled the tips of his hair burning away.

  Still, the table was broad, and the air obscured with smoke. If his attacker hadn't seen him duck underneath, he might do well simply to wait, to remain hidden and allow the authorities to deal with whatever was going on. Dravhoc was, after all, wealthy enough to employ patrols of the Cloud-Winged Guard. An organization made up of a few surviving remnants of what had once been the Legion of Wojek, former keepers of Ravnica's law and order, they boasted a reputation for dealing with lawbreakers swiftly, efficiently, and permanently. Let them risk life and limb confronting whatever had hurled fire at him.

  Between the crackling of nearby potted plants that had ignited in the conflagration, and the pounding feet and panicked screams of the fleeing bystanders, Jace heard something new, the sound of claws clacking across the tabletop above him. Something had ridden the fire to earth.

  Muttering a handful of curses, he tensed. The Cloud-Winged Guard's numbers were few, and the districts they patrolled quite large. If something was hunting him in the plaza, waiting for their unpredictable response was no longer an option.

  Glancing over his shoulder, he measured the distance to the nearest exit, wanting desperately to run. He might make it but without knowing what was clawing its way across the table, or how far it might chase him, he certainly wouldn't have bet what little money he had left on his chances.

  A quartet of Jaces lunged from beneath the table, each sprinting in a different direction to take cover beneath or behind some other flame-resistant obstruction, this one a pillar, that one another table. The thing that had skittered across the stone watched all four. Its ears lay back in confusion, and it stretched its mouth wide to utter an angry hiss that was the crackle of a dozen bonfires.

  It might have been a cat, this thing, had it not been roughly the size of a hunting dog-and had it not been made entirely of a living, semi-solid flame.

  Moving in concert, all four images of Jace leaned out from cover. From their outstretched hands, a thick spray of freezing water arced across the open-air cafe to drench the fiery predator. A geyser of steam shot into the air, and the hiss of water-on-fire almost drowned out the terrified shriek of the elemental.

  Then the images, the water, even the steam were gone. The feline creature stood, utterly confused, its animalistic mind unable to grasp the concept of illusion.

  And Jace-the real Jace, who had been none of the four phantoms but wrapped tight in an illusion of invisibility-rose up before the distracted, disoriented beast, hauled back a fist and struck.

  No mere punch, this, but a devastating blow of mystical force. Telekinesis had never been among Jace's stronger skills-the lifting of a simple fork or the opening of a distant window took everything he had-but manipulation of himself? That came far more easily. More than easily enough, with a few seconds of preparation and a surge of mana, to augment the strength of his own harms, to reach out and violently flip the table.

  The flaming beast flew from the tabletop to sail dozens of feet through the air-clear over the protective wall that marked the edge of the terrace, plummeting from sight. Jace didn't know how many levels of Dravhoc it might have dropped, or whether the fall would be sufficient to kill it, but he knew he intended to be well gone before it could return.

  For an instant, Jace cast his senses outward, peering behind walls, around corners, over ledges. But his cursory examination failed to locate the wizard who had summoned the beast, and he wasn't about to hang around for a prolonged search. The singed hem of his cloak swirling dramatically, Jace moved at a brisk walk toward the cafe's exit, trying hard to peer around him in every direction at once, and wondered just who he'd managed to piss off this time.

  Two levels abov
e, near the very peak of the mountain, a man stood within the high, arched confines of a tower window. He stared down, not with the naked eye, but through a peculiar crystalline device, globes within globes. Within its confines, he watched the events of the cafe unfold, lowering the sphere only when Jace Beleren swept from the open patio and into the bustling avenues.

  And still he waited, until he was joined several moments later by a woman, taller than he, broader of shoulder, with a shock of ash-gray hair that made her appear far older than her years.

  "Not a bad performance," he said to her without preamble. "He survived your firecat easily enough, my dear."

  "Bah." She shrugged, leaning against the side of the massive window frame. "I'm not impressed. Decent reaction time, and I won't deny he's got power. But we've rejected recruits who performed a lot better."

  "We have. But then, we're not after Jace Beleren for his reaction time or even his illusions, are we?

  "We'll see how he performs for Gemreth. And then we'll decide if we can make Jace Beleren who, and what, we need him to be."

  To Jace's paranoid and worry-addled mind, every insect flitting in the darkness was the eye of an enemy; every echo the footsteps of an unseen stalker creeping across the cobblestones; every stranger an assassin set to grab him from behind; every overhanging banner a noose that hungered for his neck. He trod the roads, the alleys, and the broad steps of the descending avenues as swiftly as he dared, jumping at every sound, peering suspiciously at every shadow, until he finally reached his destination.

  What Jace called home was a modest three-room flat, located in one of Dravhoc's lowest tiers, where the scents of the river filled the humid air with a vaguely fishy aroma and the cost of living was only moderately outrageous. It was cheaper than anywhere else in the extravagant quarter, yes, but its proximity to the shore and the tiny islands beyond filled Jace with a sense of security. Jace had never understood, and none of his teachers had satisfactorily explained, why the magics of the mind were best and most efficiently empowered by the mana that drifted and flowed within the waters of the many worlds; he knew only that it was so.

  With a sigh of profound relief, Jace slammed his door behind him, leaning briefly against it and trying to calm himself. That he'd made many enemies throughout the past few years was no surprise at all, considering how he'd supported his preferred lifestyle. That any of them could have found him so exposed, however, was worrisome in the extreme. He turned, locking the door's four deadbolts. Without lighting a lantern, he tossed his cloak haphazardly over an old coat rack, stepped into the next room, and collapsed into bed without bothering to get undressed. He'd deal with the rumples and wrinkles in the morning; right now he just needed time to relax, to meditate on the mana flowing through the currents beyond the shore.

  Despite his nervous energy, he was asleep within minutes, wrapped in peculiar and disturbing dreams wherein he tried to bribe a giant cat not to spit fire at him, only to find he couldn't afford the beast's asking price. He ran from the predator, calling for help, as embers rained from the sky.

  And then he was awake, screaming at the terrible pain that throbbed in his chest.

  Craning his head until his neck ached, Jace stared at the horrid shape squatting atop his torso. Only scarcely visible in the dark of the chamber, it stood on four legs that jutted obscenely from its sides like those of an insect. Two more appendages emerged from its shoulders to clutch at his collar. Its head was that of a jolly, almost cherubic old man, which stood in stark contrast to the wicked stinger at its tail, dripping with Jace's own blood.

  "What-" Jace froze in mid-question, his jaw clenching tight as his body spasmed with a new surge of pain. "What do-?" He couldn't seem to force out the question.

  "You tell me, mind-reader," the demon hissed in a voice that quivered with palsy.

  "I–I can't!" He could barely concentrate enough to speak, let alone read its mind.

  "You will! Tell me why I am here, Jace Beleren, and what I wish from you, and I will provide respite from this pain. Fail and the poison shall run its course!"

  Jace scarcely even reacted to the use of his name, though he'd never done business in Dravhoc as anyone but Berrim, and never revealed the name "Jace" to anyone since he'd arrived on the sprawling, urban world of Ravnica. He struggled to rise, to throw the terrible thing away from him, but the last of his strength was drowning swiftly beneath the toxin's spreading burn.

  He wanted to cry out, to scream, to rail against the unfairness of it all, but he did none of these. Squeezing shut his eyes, clenching his jaw until his teeth ached, he forced himself to calm.

  Long moments passed and the pain grew steadily worse, but Jace remained focused and stared down at the creature once more. Scarcely visible even in the darkened room, his eyes began to glow.

  "Your master, your summoner, is a mage called Gemreth," he told the demon through trembling lips. "You were told that his master, called Tezzeret, wants to meet me. The First Vineyard, an hour after dusk tomorrow." Even through the pain, Jace felt his anger growing, burning away the worst of his weakness. "This was a test!" he accused his vile attacker.

  "A test indeed, Jace Beleren. And you have passed." The horrific vermin skittered off him and made for the window.

  "Antidote…" he croaked, his throat dry with agony.

  Somehow, the inhuman creature shrugged. "Poison's not lethal," it cackled at him as it scurried over the sill. "You'll be fine in an hour or two."

  Jace watched it go, the rage and humiliation burning within him as fiercely as the poison itself. He fell back on his mattress, struggled to find his center, to focus on the rushing, mana-rich waters. And then, through his pain, through his confusion, through his lingering fear, he began to cast a spell far simpler than mind reading.

  He waited nearby, this mage called Gemreth, sitting beside a fruit-vendor's stand and crunching contentedly on a honey-apple. His salt-and-pepper beard was thick and bushy, rather than neatly trimmed, but otherwise he appeared every inch the rich and stylish citizen of Dravhoc, draped in multiple layers of tunics and coats of rich crimson and black. And he smiled, taking a last bite of the candied fruit, as his pet came scurrying around the corner, clinging to the walls and windowsills.

  For a few moments they conversed, the minuscule demon hanging just above the wizard's shoulder. Only then, with an upraised hand, did Gemreth dismiss the abomination back whence it came. Picking a bit of peel from between his teeth, he strode away, merging with the nighttime traffic.

  Above him, all but invisible in the darkened sky, its dragonfly wings fluttering in unnatural silence, a tiny insect-winged cloud sprite followed in his wake.

  Not all the wealthy neighborhoods of Ravnica were quite so dramatic as Dravhoc, of course. That particular district might cling to a mountainside like a tired explorer, but much of Ravnica was covered not in great peaks, shining lakes, or thick swamps, but gently rolling plains. In the center of one of the largest was the district Ovitzia-and in the center of Ovitzia stood a number of manors, among the largest that Ravnica had to offer. And it was to one of these, up the gleaming steps from the curb, across the broad marble porch to the front door, that Jace's steps carried him early the next day.

  The woman who opened the door in response to his tug upon the bell was clearly no servant. She wore a gown of the finest white gossamer over a snug slip of woven gold, a perfect match for the waist-length hair swept back behind her pointed ears. Her reed-slender figure could most generously be described as "boyish," but her features were soft and elegant, and she moved with what Jace could only think a purely feminine grace.

  "Berrim!" She greeted him warmly, with an affectionate if shallow embrace, a purely chaste kiss upon his right cheek.

  "Hello, Emmara," Jace smiled broadly in turn. "I hope you don't mind me dropping by unannounced like this."

  "Oh, don't be stupid," she told him. "You know I don't. What brings you to Ovitzia?"

  "Nothing in particular," Jace hedged. "
Just fluttering around the city, and realized I wasn't accomplishing anything, so I figured I'd visit a friend."

  "Well, of course you weren't. Isn't it you humans who always say 'Fluttery will get you nowhere'?"

  Jace blinked, replaying the sentence to be sure he heard what he thought he had. "Funny," he finally dead-panned. "How long have you been saving that one?"

  "Oh, years at least," Emmara replied cheerfully. "Elves have that kind of time, you know."

  Both broke into large grins then, and she stepped back, allowing her visitor to pass through the doorway and into her home.

  "Home" indeed. "Private indoor villa" was more accurate.

  Emmara Tandris was the first mage Jace had met in Ravnica, and still one of the most confusing. Rumor had it she was once a member in good standing of the Selesnya Conclave, but if so, her own fortunes clearly hadn't faded with the influence of the guilds. In public, she made little if any show of her powers. But in private, just about everything with her was magic, even when it would have been just as simple, or even more so, by mundane efforts.

  No living servants occupied her vast manor. Instead, various constructs-some of white marble, some of stuffing and woven fabric in the form of various humanoids and woodland animals-fetched and cleaned and gathered at her need. Most were tiny, barely able to carry a platter full of food, though a few were as large as the elf herself. Animating these "dolls" was only one of her many hobbies, and in fact Emmara had been known to take commissions for these mindless servants as a means of bolstering her income.

  Even stranger, the manor boasted no internal walls, no doors, no stairs. A vast array of marble columns, carved to resemble the bark of trees, stood at intervals throughout the domicile. They supported the weight of the floors above but did little to separate one chamber from another; in fact, "chambers" pretty much began and ended where Emmara said they did. If one required privacy, one simply adjourned to a different story-and that, too, involved the many pillars. For while each seemed solid enough, if one chose, one could physically step inside (a feeling that Jace could only liken to walking through a wall of the fatty accumulation scraped from the top of a pot of heavy stew), and emerge from any of the other pillars, anywhere in the manor.