The Nullification Engine (The Alchemancer: Book Two)

by Scott Marlowe

  —boom—

  Glances were exchanged. No one was quite sure what had just happened.

  Persimmius cursed. His face lowered while he fiddled around with the detonator's controls. Satisfied, he turned his once more smiling face to the crowd and said, "Pardon my error. With so many explosives all over the city, it's difficult keeping all of their locations straight in my head. This, I think, will prove a better demonstration."

  Again, he pressed one of the keys. Again, a noise, but this time much, much closer.

  —BOOM!—

  The floor and walls shook and, outside, stone and wood crashed to the ground. A collective gasp rose up from those inside the ballroom. Persimmius smiled all the more to hear it.

  "Now, as I was saying—"

  One man chose that moment to run.

  The great doors leading into the ballroom remained open, as did numerous side doors around the chamber. The man had almost reached the main doors when Persimmius waved his hand to slam them shut. All around them, they heard the noise of other doors closing. The gentleman who'd attempted to flee screeched to a halt. His hesitance to turn to face Persimmius spoke of his fear.

  "Bartholomew, isn't it?" Persimmius asked. "Yes, I remember you. A banker by trade and a heartless bastard by every other measure." The man turned now, eyes going wide as Persimmius walked toward him. "It was you, Bart—can I call you Bart?—who threw me out of my home. I remember the day like it was yesterday. I wonder, do you?"

  Bartholomew visibly shook as he answered. "You were behind on your payments. I wanted leniency, but your neighbors..."

  He didn't want to finish his sentence, so Persimmius finished it for him.

  "My neighbors wanted me gone! Because of what I'd done! Or what they thought I'd done, anyway. They blamed me for the fire and all those people killed. I am here this evening, ladies and gentlemen, to once more profess my innocence. Oh, and I am innocent, dear friends. You see, the thing is, I didn't admit to it right away those years ago because I acted under some misplaced sense of duty and honor. Chivalry, if you will. I did not want the real perpetrator's reputation to get dragged through the mud, as it were. I thought if I shouldered the blame and paid for the damages, all would be forgiven. I was most certainly wrong. Little did I know it would become such a scandal, and me such a cad. By the time I finally professed my innocence, it was too late. No one believed me! My reputation was ruined and, with it, my trade. No business, no money. No money, no roof over my head or food on the table. Hard to have a decent life, either way. Unfortunately, my friends, these wrongs cannot be righted. No, too late for that. However, we can at least shine light upon the truth. At long last, why not?" He took in those around him once more. This time, he looked for someone very specific. "I didn't check the guest list, but I'm certain the person I'm after is here. Might as well step forward and show yourself. I know you're here, Lady Walkerton."

  Serena thought for one moment Persimmius meant her. But then she realized the wizard was calling for her mother. People standing close to Verna Walkerton stepped away, creating a void around her. Serena's father stood next to her. He did not move away, but neither did he step between the pyromancer and his wife.

  "There you are," Persimmius said. "Here, ladies and gentlemen, is the woman who will set me free. Or prove my innocence, leastwise. I give you Lady Verna Walkerton, of the House of Walkerton, a fine upstanding citizen of our community if ever there was one. You might wonder, if she truly does possess such vital information, why she did not come forward when I was spending my last penny on my legal defense. Or why, when chased through Dunberry Borough—never liked that place, stupid name—did she not come to my rescue and spare me the indignity of having to jump into the canals to throw off my pursuers? Or why," he said, pausing, "she's gone on with her life as if I never existed."

  "You say that as if I am the only one."

  Serena's mother's voice, which was loud enough for all to hear, had that hard edge Serena knew all too well. Serena didn't doubt her mother's fortitude, but she didn't think her mother knew what she dealt with here. Serena did. She'd seen one wizard go over the edge. She was worried she was about to witness another.

  "Oh, I know you are not the only one," Persimmius said. "But, first things first. I want you to tell everyone what you did."

  Verna turned her nose up at the wizard. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

  "You know exactly what I'm talking about," Persimmius said, his voice so low Serena almost didn't hear him. "Tell them!" The words swept over the crowd like the boom of one of his explosives, jarring even Verna from her statuesque-like stance. For once, Serena's mother had nothing to say. Serena, however, did.

  "That's enough, Persimmius."

  Serena kicked her heels off and stepped clear of those around her to confront the pyromancer unobstructed.

  Persimmius's face lit up. "The players are all here then. Very good. Very good, indeed."

  "I'll tell everyone what my mother did if it will make you go away."

  "Go away?" Persimmius laughed. He strolled in front of the crowd, plucking a gentleman's fluted glass right from his hand. He drank deeply. Then he smashed the glass on the floor. "I'm not going anywhere, and neither are any of you."

  Someone shouted, "You dare hold us here as prisoners?"

  Persimmius weighed the question. "Not really."

  "Then we're free to leave?"

  "I'm afraid not. You see, I'm really just stalling, holding you here until the skeva arrive."

  A murmur swept over the crowd. One word, skeva, rose above all others.

  "Really, they should have been here by now. As you might expect, they are not the most reliable creatures. Still, once they do make it, I expect they'll do their job well enough."

  The ballroom's great doors shook as something on the other side slammed into them. Despite the lack of a bolt or other fastening mechanism, the doors did not open. The noise attracted everyone's attention, including Persimmius's.

  "Captain Fuchs, no doubt!" Persimmius said. "A most reliable soldier. Perhaps I shall give him something else to worry about. Another explosion should do the trick." He raised the remote detonating device above his head. His thumb descended on the button. Only this time, it didn't make contact.

  Serena focused her sri and tugged the device from the wizard's hand. The detonator flew through the air, right into her waiting grasp.

  Persimmius turned to Serena without hesitation. He smiled. "You know, Serena, I made my plans without knowledge of your arrival. When I saw you walk into my laboratory, it was quite unexpected. I've really no desire to harm you."

  She felt the tug before he'd even finished his sentence. A force, gripping the device, trying to pry it from her hand to whisk it back to its owner. Serena exerted her will against that force, taking hold of it and dispersing it. It took so little effort, she wondered if her former master even tried.

  Persimmius never stopped smiling. "I actually do not blame you for what happened, Serena. Well, maybe a little. If only you'd listened to me and left the Inferno alone. But girls will be girls, as they say. I understood your desire for knowledge, perhaps better than anyone. That is why I now offer to let you leave unscathed, while there is still time. Just give me back the remote detonator and you can walk right out of here."

  Serena thought to smash the device against the nearest wall. But Persimmius had just given her another use for it. "Let everyone go, and I'll give it back to you."

  The line of Persimmius's smile grew faint. "I'm afraid I can't do that. I've longed for revenge for far too long. Besides, promises have been made, and I'll not disappoint."

  In the distance, Serena thought she heard the sound of metal clashing. Others heard it too, for murmurs swept across the crowd. The smile returned to Persimmius's face.

  "Ah, he comes at last."

  "Who is coming?" Serena asked.

  "Fellow by the name of Rachna. A rather large skeva with a very unhealthy appetite. Nasty te
mper, too. If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not be here when he arrives."

  "I thought you wanted revenge? I thought you wanted to kill everyone?"

  "Yes! But I'll leave the killing to my associates. It's their business, after all."

  The metal on metal sound, which Serena recognized now as the sounds of battle, drew nearer. It was difficult to tell from which direction the combat originated, for it seemed to sound from every direction at once. Meanwhile, the great ballroom doors continued to shudder from repeated impacts.

  "I really should be going," Persimmius said. "But I will need my detonator, please." He held a hand out to Serena, though she felt no invisible force trying to take it from her this time.

  "No," Serena said, crossing her arms. "I'm not going to give it back. You should turn yourself in. Whatever this plan of yours is, it isn't going to work. I won't let it."

  Persimmius sniffed, considering his options. Serena wasn't sure why he didn't just take the device from her.

  A middle-aged man dressed in the purple and white of the aristocracy—he might be a distant cousin or some such—stepped forward. "Do as the young lady says, Persimmius. Give up now and matters will—"

  "Oh, please do shut up." Persimmius silenced the man just as he'd quieted the lord chamberlain. "Now, Serena, please be reasonable. You weren't even supposed to be here. Yet, here you are, ruining my entire plan. I was supposed to have set off the third, fourth, and fifth explosives by now."

  How many were there?

  "Just give me the detonator and you can walk free." His face lit up as a new idea struck him. "In fact, I'll allow all of the young people to leave. None of you were old enough to know how your parents ruined me, and so I hold nothing against any of you." Persimmius held his hand out to Serena. "What do you say?"

  "No."

  Persimmius sighed. "Then we shall do this the hard way. Bart! Yes, you, Mr. Banker. Come here!"

  Frozen with fear, the man didn't move an inch.

  Persimmius sighed again. He gestured and the man slid forward, his heels dragging behind him.

  "Now, give me my detonator or I shall burn dear Bart here alive."

  Serena took in a short breath. She selected her words carefully before speaking them, knowing full well Persimmius's ability to carry out his threat. "I think if we were to talk—"

  "Talk? I think we've talked enough."

  Persimmius made no gesture. He neither waved nor glanced at Bartholomew, nor even snapped his fingers. One moment the banker stood there, cringing. The next, before Serena even thought to protect him, he burst into flame.

  "No!"

  Serena's cry was only surpassed by Bartholomew's, who crumpled to the ground in agony. Instant panic seized the revelers as gentlemen and ladies alike turned and ran from the wizard and the burning banker. Never mind there wasn't anywhere to go. No one wanted to be next.

  Serena reached out toward Bartholomew with her sorcery, covering the flames like a blanket. But try though she might to quench them, they continued to burn. In her mind, she saw the flames of the Inferno, chaotic, alive, and resistant to her every effort to stop them. It didn't seem to matter that this was not the Inferno. Despite her best efforts, the fire refused to yield, and Bartholomew's screams grew higher in pitch as it continued to consume him.

  "Never were very good at putting fires out, were you, Serena?" Persimmius asked. He no longer smiled.

  Serena ignored him, though his words chipped away at her resolve all the same. No matter how much of her will she exerted, neither the flames nor the man's screaming would stop. But then they did. Smoke rose from his person and tiny flames continued to burn, but Bartholomew was no longer alive to feel it.

  The guards chose that moment to intervene as they surrounded the pyromancer and leveled pikes at him. The wizard ignored them.

  "The choice falls to you again, Serena. Will you return my detonator or will you force me to sacrifice another?"

  Persimmius latched onto Serena's mother this time, who hadn't run with the others. Arlen Walkerton hadn't fled, either. This time, he put himself bodily between his wife and Persimmius.

  "Let go of her, wizard!"

  Serena had never heard such conviction in her father's voice. Unfortunately, it made little difference to Persimmius, who with a sweep of his hand sent Arlen skidding away across the floor. Then he dragged Verna toward him. Far from her stoicism of earlier, her features were vivid with panic.

  One of the guards, pike leveled, took a step toward the wizard. His pike burst into flame, as did the pikes of the others. They dropped their weapons simultaneously.

  Serena took that opportunity to come between her mother and Persimmius. With a niggling of a suspicion forming in her mind, she exerted her will against the flow of sorcerous energy dragging her mother toward him. She cut it off with very little effort.

  Persimmius shook his head in disapproval. "After all those times you told me how much you disliked your mother, here you are trying to save her. Or has something changed? Has the rift between you at long last been sealed?"

  "Hardly," Serena said. "We may not like each other, but she's still my mother. I'm not going to let you burn her alive."

  Persimmius rose up to his full height. "Then hand over my detonator," he said, his voice gone impatient.

  Serena narrowed her gaze, wondering why Persimmius still made no move against her. "Why don't you come and take it from me, if you can."

  That gave Persimmius pause. One hand came up as if he meant to use it to direct his will, but Serena felt no outside forces directed at her.

  "You can't, can you?" Serena had no idea why not.

  Persimmius's gaze narrowed. Outside, the clash of battle rang on as the great doors continued to vibrate from the continued impacts. People were huddled near them, waiting for them to crash open and allow them to flee. Others worked at the side doors, though they'd nothing yet to show for their efforts. No one had yet been able to leave the room. The guards still stood there, but with their pikes burning on the floor, they were unsure what to do next.

  Persimmius bristled with defiance. "I can and I will take it back from you."

  Serena felt his surge of power then, trying to pull the device from her grasp. She swatted it away as if it were nothing.

  "I don't believe it," she said, realization coming to her now. "What happened to you?"

  Persimmius flashed her a look of annoyance. "Nothing happened to me. I am still as powerful as I ever—"

  "You're not powerful at all. I always thought you a master. Perhaps a lesser one, but still a master. Now, I think you're second-rate at best. Also... I think you're scared of me. That's the real reason you offered to let me leave. You're afraid of me. Or at least afraid I really will stop this plan of yours."

  Persimmius's expression turned from mild annoyance to pure anger. Grinding his teeth, he'd nothing to say in response. But then the hammering at the door stopped. Persimmius's face lit up with delight as they all heard new sounds of battle just outside.

  "Looks like we're back on schedule!" With a flick of his wrist, the great doors swung wide. People hovering there, thinking to run through them to safety, instead turned and ran away screaming and shouting, for beyond was chaos. A host of palace guards, three dwarves, a krill, and a King's Patroller all stood shoulder-to-shoulder against an oncoming horde of skeva. With the doors open, the skeva horde pushed forward. Fighting every step of the way, the guards and those with them were forced into the ballroom. The guards surrounding Persimmius saw this as a better fight for them, and so they ran to help. Even with their number added to the rest, the gap between each defender grew too great and the skeva warriors slipped through. They ran toward the ballroom guests with reckless abandon, their weapons held high.

  "Watch out!" Verna yelled at her daughter.

  Distracted, Serena didn't see Persimmius lunging for the detonator until too late. He tipped it out of her hand, skipping away with the device in his possession.

&nbs
p; "Aha!" he said, coming to a stop as he pressed down on several of the keys. Then, just as Serena reached out with her magic to take it back, he tossed it over his shoulder. It hit the floor with a clunk. "No more need for that."

  A single boom sounded in the distance. Then another, and another, and another, each time coming from a new direction. Though the explosions sent shudders through the ballroom, the structure held.

  "The thing is, Serena," Persimmius said, straightening his coat and adjusting his tie, "I knew from the moment you came seeking an apprenticeship you were more powerful than I. But, quite obviously because of your age, you lacked experience and much fundamental knowledge. I agreed to give you these things, even going so far as to begin some rudimentary instruction with the Inferno. Now that was a mistake, especially since your control of fire has always been sub-par. It's a different sort of energy, so don't feel bad. I, however, have always had an aptitude for it." Persimmius raised his hands. They ignited with flame. "I meant what I said. I lay no blame at your feet, Serena. Your mother, however, is a different story. Now, do stand aside."

  Serena took a deep breath, focusing her sri on Persimmius's flaming hands. Like a breeze blowing across a candle, the fires sputtered, but neither went out.

  Persimmius glared at her. "If that's how you want to play, then that's how we'll play."

  His fire streamed at her like twin battering rams, smashing into her and driving her back into her mother so that they both went down together. Persimmius's flame never stopped coming, ensconcing the two of them in a fiery cocoon which would have burned them alive if not for the barrier of protection Serena willed around them. Serena held it firm, hoping as the seconds went by Persimmius's attack would taper off. It did not. Letting out a huff of breath and trying to concentrate, which was not easy at all with her mother clutching her and sobbing right in her ear, Serena pushed the barrier further out.

  "Quit it!" Serena said to her mother, perhaps more harshly than she intended.

  "B-But the fire! Don't let it— Don't let it get us!"

  Serena considered slapping the woman, but knew she'd pay for it later. Instead, she pulled away from her mother an inch at a time, finally winning her freedom. She stood, pulling her mother up with her. Her cocoon of protection became a wall separating the two of them from Persimmius. Flame poured across its surface as soldiers clashed with skeva in every direction they looked.