Tommy Black and the Coat of Invincibility

by Jake Kerr

  I ran up to her and Arkady. “Naomi!”

  “No, Tommy.” She held up a finger from her left hand. “He has the Sight. There’s no other way he would have seen through my illusion.” She poked her finger against the spy’s forehead a few times, making him cringe and close his eyes. “You know what this is, don’t you?” She held up the red ball, and the man cowered.

  “Naomi, we just need to question him.” I glanced over my shoulder, and noticed some men leaving the bar and looking our way. “Also, we have company.”

  “I already cast an illusion. They see an empty street.” She turned back to the spy. I glanced back at the bar again, and the men were looking up and down the street and pointing in various directions. “The only reason you aren’t dead is that you have value.” The man didn’t reply. “Arkady, please translate.

  Arkady spoke some words in Russian, and the man nodded his head. I stared at Naomi. Some of her hair had fallen out of her ponytail, and rather than look cute, it made her look almost crazed. Her eyes were blazing, and her mouth had the sneer of someone looking for the slightest excuse to unleash violence.

  “Now you will tell me where the Germans are.”

  Before Arkady could translate, I interrupted, “Naomi, we don’t need to know that. We’re looking for the Archmage.”

  Naomi turned to me, her eyes brimming with tears. “Mister Ali died saving me because of them. We can get the Coat later.” She turned to face the spy and moved the red spell closer to his face. The man cried out. “First we have to take care of the Nazis.”

  “Naomi—”

  Something caught Naomi’s eye, and she looked up. “Oh for crying out loud.” I looked up and a few men must have heard us and were heading our way. Naomi raised her hand to cast her spell at them.

  “No!” I cried out and pushed her arm, the spell shot out and struck a motorcycle that was parked on the other side of the street. It started to glow and then burst into flame for a moment before falling to the ground in a pile of ashes.

  “Sheesh, Naomi. We’re not murderers!” I said. “Arkady, let’s get to the car. We can interrogate the spy back at the hotel.”

  “Is that wise?”

  “Well, we don’t have time to do it here, unless you’re okay with Naomi going on a murderous rampage.” Naomi glared at me as Arkady nodded.

  Naomi avoided my gaze as we walked back to the car. The driver looked at the half-conscious man in Arkady’s arms, shook his head, but didn’t say anything as we loaded him into the back seat between me and Arkady.

  Naomi sat in the front seat. She was quiet during the drive back to the hotel, resting her head against the glass of the window. After all the spells she had cast, she must have been exhausted.

  We arrived at the hotel, and after Arkady and I had climbed out with the spy, I looked back. Naomi was sitting with her face in her hands. I couldn’t tell if she had collapsed in exhaustion or was so angry that she didn’t want to look at me. I walked over.

  I opened the door, and she looked up at me. Her face was red. “Tommy, I’m really weak. Can you help me?” Nodding, I reached in and lifted her up. We walked to our rooms, Naomi leaning on me for support.

  I escorted her into her room, where she fell on top of the bed. She rolled over, and looked away from me. There was a quilt at the base of the bed, which I pulled up to cover her. I turned off the lamp and turned to leave when I heard Naomi whisper, “I’m sorry, Tommy. I can’t do anything right.”

  I turned to tell her that everything was all right, that I understood her anger. I didn’t really think she was a murderer, and more than anything I was also wracked with pain over Mister Ali. Before I could speak, however, I heard a small snore. I turned away and left, closing the door behind me.

  17

  ANSWERS

  I walked through the door that linked my room to Arkady’s and found him standing in front of the spy, who was sitting on the chair. He looked alert and was rubbing the back of his head. The man said something in Russian, nearly spitting out the words.

  “He says that he won’t tell us anything.”

  The spy was sneering, and the look on his face was full of arrogance. I thought of Mister Ali’s crumpled body and that this was the man who had led us into the trap that caused his death. The rage that I had suppressed started to well up inside of me. I walked over to him.

  I tapped the cane on the hardwood floor during the few steps it took to reach the man. I stopped in front of him. The sneer remained on his face as I drew the sword that was hidden inside the cane. I held the point an inch from his heart. He quivered a bit, but didn’t say anything.

  I turned to the nightstand that stood next to him. It had a candle and an ashtray on it, setting on a small decorative cover of embroidered material. I raised the sword and in a single swift motion brought it down. The wood of the nightstand put so little resistance on the sword that it looked and felt like I was slicing through air.

  The nightstand stood for a moment and then fell into two halves. I had seen the sword do similar feats of slicing in the past. The artifact was so powerful that things split before they even struck the edge of the blade, as if their very touch were an insult.

  I turned back to the spy and held the sword above his head. “Arkady,” I said, my voice flat and emotionless. “Ask him if he would like to know what it feels like to be split in two.”

  Arkady spoke, and the spy’s mouth dropped open. The fear on his face was palpable. “Please tell him he has three seconds to tell me who he is with and what their intentions are.” Arkady repeated the words in Russian.

  As Arkady spoke, I said, “One.”

  “Uhdeen.” The spy looked at me, then at Arkady, and then back at me.

  “Two.”

  “Dva.” I raised the sword a couple inches, as if preparing for a killing stroke, and the spy’s eyes went wide in terror.

  “Zhdat!” the spy exclaimed. I looked at Arkady, who nodded at me. I pulled the sword away and sheathed it in the cane. The moment the sword clicked in place, the spy started speaking quickly.

  Arkady translated in pieces as the man talked. “He is a spy for the Germans. They are looking for two things… An artifact and… Powerful magicians… just arrived in Leningrad.”

  “Well, he found an artifact, just not the right one,” I replied grimly. “Ask him what the interest is in the magicians.”

  They exchanged words, and Arkady said, “He doesn’t know. They were considered dangerous is all he was told. He was to lead them to an out-of-the-way place to be taken care of.”

  To be taken care of. I felt sick, and the rage started to cloud my vision. All I wanted to do was to do to this man what he did to Mister Ali—leave him in a crumpled heap. I took a deep breath. “Ask him about the Angel.”

  Arkady spoke and then translated the answer. “They want her artifact… But they haven’t found her… She is well hidden.”

  “Why does he want the Angel’s artifact,” I asked, but I could assume the answer—something that would protect one from real harm had value in a war.

  “He says he won’t answer,” Arkady looked at me and shrugged. I unsheathed the sword again, but the spy just shook his head and said something in Russian.

  “He says death is preferable over what would happen to him if he revealed more than he has already.”

  I had an idea. “Does he know magic, Arkady?”

  “Absolutely. Naomi immediately understood what happened in the bar. This man is like Mister Ali. He can see through illusions and is very knowledgable about magic. I’m sure it makes him very effective at trailing and finding magical targets.”

  I sheathed the sword and smiled. I dropped the brass tip to the floor and leaned on it. “Ask him if death would be preferable to being absorbed by a Shadow.”

  “I’m not sure an empty threat will work, Tommy. He is knowledgable in magic and knows that Shadows can’t be slaves or servants. Even if I were to create an illusion of a Shadow he would see thr
ough it.”

  “Just ask him.”

  Arkady said the words, but the spy didn’t reply and his face was emotionless. I shook my head and motioned with the staff toward the wall. I used what I had learned on the ship during our journey to create the inky black outline of a Shadow by manipulating the rays of light. It emerged from a small shadow next to the bed, and oozed up the wall into the rough outline of a human-like shape that was blacker than black.

  “My God,” Arkady said, stepping back away from the Shadow.

  “I am glad you could be here, my friend,” I said, not knowing if the spy could actually understand English. “You can have this one.” I motioned toward the spy with the staff, and then manipulated the light so that it appeared the Shadow was dripping down the wall and moving toward the spy.

  “Arkady, tell him that the perpetual cold of a Shadow is about to consume him if he doesn’t tell us more. He won’t die. At least not immediately. But he’ll wish he had.” The black oozed past the tips of my shoes toward the spy.

  Arkady spoke, and the man’s face filled with abject terror. He scrambled back in the chair, trying to get away from the Shadow. I motioned with the staff and the movement of the Shadow paused.

  “Uhdeen,” I said, echoing Arkady’s Russian. Not even waiting for a response, I said, “Dva.”

  “Zhdat! Zhdat!” the spy screamed. He then let loose another torrent of Russian.

  “You can dismiss your Shadow friend, Tommy. The spy is telling us everything.” I nodded and used the power of the staff to move the Shadow under the bed, after which I ended the magic.

  “The Fuhror is gathering all of the magic artifacts in the world,” Arkady translated. “He has men in Egypt, Persia, and even the Far East looking for them. He is especially interested in the artifacts of Jamshid, and he has his top magicians in Russia looking for the Coat. They are also looking for the staff but they know that it is in England.”

  As the spy finished, he turned to me, a look of pleading on his face. “Please,” he said in English, and then added a few sentences in Russian.

  “He asks that you release him,” Arkady translated. “He promises not to say anything more about you.” The spy looked at me, and then, in a hushed tone, spoke again. Arkady nodded as if agreeing with the Russian words. “Someone who can call forth and control Shadows is a magician of such great power that they will go down in history. It would be foolish for him to cross us.”

  I walked over to Arkady. “Do you trust him?” Arkady shook his head, and I nodded. “I don’t want to kill him. We’re not monsters.”

  “We should just hand him to the Soviets. They would be happy to have him, I’m sure.” At first I liked Arkady’s idea, but then as I was about to say it was good I thought harder about what would happen. I was nearly positive that they would execute him, and I was wondering if that would make me a party to his death.

  As I thought over our options, a new idea struck me. One that used Arkady’s idea but would help us find the Angel of St. Petersburg. “How about this?” I tapped the cane on the floor. “We’ll use him as bait for the Angel’s men. Tell her that we have the spy that was the source of those hunting her. When we arrange to give him to her, we use that as an opportunity to grab the coat.”

  Arkady was quiet as he tapped a finger on his chin. He then replied, “It’s a good idea, Tommy, but how will we know where to find the Angel’s men?”

  I grinned. “We ask him.” I pointed to the spy.

  18

  FOLLOWING THE LEAD

  I watched as Arkady spoke to the German spy. The spy shook his head after almost everything Arkady said. Finally, Arkady raised his voice and pointed toward me. The man looked at me, and I did my best to look intimidating. He lowered his head and finally said, “Da.” What followed was a hesitant stream of words in Russian.

  When he finished he lowered his head into his hands, looking utterly defeated. “He said he’ll do it, Tommy. But we are to give him a chance to escape during the transfer. He believes we’ll kill him and if we actually hand him to the White Russians that they will kill him, so he said that since we won’t need him once we find the Coat that we should let him escape. He will do everything he can to help us, but we must let him go once we meet the Angel.”

  I ran my hand through my hair and looked at the man. He seemed helpless, but I didn’t want to let appearances fool me. “What do you think, Arkady?”

  “I think he has no option, so we can trust him solely because this is the best outcome for him.” Arkady looked at me. “He truly believes you will feed him to your Shadow friend.”

  “Okay, let’s do it. Find out what he knows.”

  Their conversation went on much longer than I expected. I thought the spy would say something like, “We last saw her to the east of the city,” but he clearly had detailed knowledge of her. Finally, the spy stopped talking and Arkady turned to me.

  “He knows her people, but he doubts that she is anywhere near them. They are very secretive and not very trusting. She is being hunted constantly by the Soviets.”

  “So he can lead us to people who will pass a message along to her?”

  Arkady nodded. “He knows people who are close to her.”

  “Can he take us to them?”

  “Yes. We can leave tomorrow. They are far out in the countryside, and he doesn’t know how many people there are between his contact and the Angel, but he can at least get us to that first step.”

  “I want details. I don’t trust him.” And I didn’t. He had knowledge of magic and was a good enough German spy to go undetected in the heart of Leningrad.

  Arkady spoke with him. At moments Arkady would raise his voice and at others he would cajole the spy. In the end he looked at me with a smile on his face. “I trust him. He told me everything he knows, and it makes sense to me.”

  “Could he be lying?” I still didn’t trust him.

  “I don’t believe so. We’ll be taking him there tomorrow, and if it isn’t the way we expect, he thinks we will kill him.”

  “Yeah, death is a good motivator.” I looked over at the spy. “What do we do with him until tomorrow?”

  “I’ll get some rope, tie him up, and then keep watch.”

  “Make sure the knots are strong, and wake me up before it gets too late. You need your rest, too.”

  Arkady assured me that he would, and I left for my room and some much needed sleep. I was exhausted just from the stress. I couldn’t imagine how Naomi felt after casting so many spells. I fell asleep with the knowledge that at least she was getting some rest and we were one step closer to retrieving the Coat of Invincibility.

  I awoke to the sound of a crash nearby. It was still dark out, but the staff lit the room as I grabbed it from its place next to me. I rolled out of bed and ran to the door to Arkady’s room. As I opened it I could see the door to the hall standing open, Arkady holding his hand to his head. Blood was dripping through his fingers.

  “Are you okay?” I asked running over to him.

  He nodded his head. “I was watching him but must have fallen asleep. He untied his hands, but he made some noise as he was tugging his legs out of the ropes. It woke me, and I ran to stop him, but he hit me in the head. I’m afraid it knocked me backward, and then he ran out the door.”

  I poked my head out of the door and looked down the hallway. The spy was long gone. I glance back at Arkady. “Your head is still bleeding.”

  “It’s okay. I’ve been hurt worse.” He walked slowly back into the room and grabbed a sheet off the bed. Rolling it up, he held it against his head. As he sat down he looked at me. “What are we to do?”

  “He’ll warn the Germans and tell them where we are.” Arkady nodded. “We should find a new hiding place and lay low,” I added.

  “They’ll hunt for us, like they are hunting the Angel.”

  I sat down next to Arkady and rubbed my eyes. “So what are our options?”

  “We can go directly after the Angel before
the Germans can find us. We can flee and hide somewhere distant, coming back when things quiet down.” He paused and then looked at me. “Or we can head back to England.”

  “That’s not an option,” I said firmly.

  “Then we flee or we fight.”

  “Naomi won’t let us flee,” I replied.

  “No. She won’t.”

  “Do you know where the Angel’s people are?”

  “Yes. I asked the spy for details.”

  “We can just go after her, grab the Coat, and then leave.” I waved my hands around as I talked, as if the movement of my hands could clear away any doubts.

  “I don’t think it will be that easy,” Arkady said.

  “When has any of this been easy?” I asked, shaking my head.

  We wanted to give Naomi as much rest as we could, but in the end we needed to leave. The spy had probably already contacted the Nazis. I knocked on her door. She didn’t answer, so I knocked louder. After knocking again, she finally opened the door, her eyes glazed over and her hair a mess around her face.

  “We have a problem,” I said. At that Naomi opened her eyes wide and waved me in.

  I walked over and fell into her reading chair. “Arkady is packing our supplies. We need to leave immediately.” I then outlined to her what happened while she was sleeping.

  She rubbed her eyes and slid her hair behind her ears. “So we’re going to go after the Angel?”

  I nodded. “Assuming we can find her.”

  “Good. We’ll find her.” Naomi stretched her arms above her head and then cracked her knuckles. “What time is it?”

  “Almost dawn. Did you get enough rest?”

  “Yeah. I’ll be fine.”

  I walked over, and sat down next to her on the bed. “You look so skinny and weak. What’s wrong? Are you okay? Is the magic draining you?”

  Naomi grinned. “No. It doesn’t steal my life energy or any of those old wives tales. But—” Naomi yawned. “It takes enormous physical energy and concentration. It does drain you. Did you ever take a close look at the masters or Cain?” I nodded but wasn’t quite sure I was entirely truthful. Cain was a mess of tics and muscle spasms. The masters looked normal, if a bit gaunt, but they all hid behind suits that hid their actual bodies.