“What will you do if I let you leave?”
“The same as I’ve been doing, I imagine. Keep an eye on you from a distance. Keep you safe when I can. Influence your decisions when possible. Help you save the Primary Continuum from destruction.”
Gabriel looked into Vicaquirao’s eyes, tempted to use Soul Magic to determine the truth of the Dark Mage’s words. “Give me your relic to the castle.”
“You really are learning.” Vicaquirao handed Gabriel a small insect encased in amber.
“Not fast enough.” Gabriel released the space-time seal for the second time, again plagued by the idea he had made yet another tragic mistake.
“Take care of yourself. There won’t always be a lucky bullet to save you at the last moment.” Vicaquirao winked. “And get Elizabeth to Nefferati. She’s the only one who might be able to heal her.”
Before Gabriel could respond, Vicaquirao disappeared into a vortex of space-time. Gabriel clasped the notebook in both hands and pondered Vicaquirao’s final words. Could that be possible? Could Vicaquirao have been at the Battle the Somme? Gabriel’s mind whirled, considering the implications. He shook his head, trying to calm the welter of confusing thoughts, a slightly different realization arising in the process.
Justine.
He couldn’t simply leave her asleep in her closet. Who knew when she might wake up?
Gabriel slid the notebook into the pocket of his pants and warped space around himself, arriving a moment later in the second floor corridor of the old visitor apartments. While he could teleport to any place he could see directly or had been personally even without a relic, he had never been in or seen Justine’s room. He did, however, know which floor of the old visitor apartments she resided on.
As he walked down the corridor, he reached out with Heart-Tree Magic, scanning the rooms for any sign of life. Near the end of the hallway, he passed a door that prickled his magic-sense. He tried the knob of the door, but it held fast. A small bit of Stone Magic altered the composition of the metal locking mechanism, and the door swung inward at his touch.
Inside the small dormitory quarters, Gabriel found Justine exactly as Vicaquirao had said, curled up in a pile of blankets, dozing peacefully in the back of her closet. He reached out with Soul Magic and studied the sleeping spell clouding her mind. She seemed fine. Dreaming deeply, but otherwise unharmed. He could wake her easily.
Gabriel squatted before the open door of the closet and stared at Justine as he considered his options. It might not be best if she woke up surrounded by her shoes and dirty laundry. And how would he explain her being asleep in the closest in the first place?
Sighing as he made his decision, he stood up, wrapping Justine’s sleeping form in a cradle of Wind Magic, gently lifting her from the closet floor and guiding her to the lone, narrow bed by the window. Apparently, Justine had not yet been assigned a roommate. No doubt that had been one of the primary reasons Vicaquirao had selected the unfortunate girl to imitate for his infiltration of the castle.
As Gabriel laid Justine down on the bed with Wind Magic, he began using his Soul Magic to slowly rouse her into awareness. Her eyes fluttered briefly, and she stretched her arms above her head as she yawned. She looked very sweet and lovely, and Gabriel realized that had it not been for Teresa, he might have been swayed by her charms. Assuming she had ever really been interested in him. It dawned on him that the Justine who had flirted with him the barbecue party had actually been Vicaquirao in disguise. Had that been a plan to make Teresa jealous? Gabriel pushed the thought from his mind as Justine’s eyes locked on him. She gasped and sat up in bed.
Gabriel stepped back from the bed, raising his hands in a calming gesture.
“Gabriel?” Justine looked around her room and then back to Gabriel. “What are you doing here?”
Gabriel realized he should have spent more time thinking about how to explain everything to Justine. He suspected it might not be a good idea to tell her she had been held captive in her own closet by one of the most dangerous Dark Mages of all.
“You were asleep.” Gabriel decided to start simply.
“Did I oversleep? Did I miss my lessons?” Justine craned her neck to look out the window. “What time is it? Why is there so much smoke?”
So much for simple.
“You were very sick.” Gabriel glanced out the window, realizing he would need to tell Justine most of the truth about the castle, even if he could hide the truth about what had happened to her. “You ate something that made you sick.”
“I had food poisoning?” Justine looked back to Gabriel, her bright blue eyes filled with concern.
“It was very bad.” Gabriel sighed inwardly. He hated lying. Things always got complicated when he lied. “You had a fever that even Heart-Tree magic couldn’t break and were asleep for a few days.”
“I’ve been asleep for days?” Justine placed her hand absentmindedly on her stomach. “But I feel fine.”
“Yes, well, the sleep did you good, then.” Gabriel needed to move the conversation away from Justine’s supposed convalescence. “But while you were asleep, the castle came under attack by an army of duplicate Apollyons.”
“Oh no!” Justine bolted from the bed and ran to the window, her eyes wide with panic.
“It’s okay.” Gabriel stepped to the window beside Justine, placing a hand on her shoulder to calm her, noticing for the first time that she smelled of lilacs. “The castle is safe now. The Apollyons were defeated.”
“I slept through an attack on the castle?” Justine’s shoulders slumped. “Why didn’t anyone wake me? Is Heloise safe?”
“We were very busy.” Gabriel tried to remember if he had seen Justine’s tutor, Heloise, a Heart-Tree Mage from 1700s England, during the battle. “I’m not sure about Heloise. A lot of people are injured. That’s why I came for you. We need help healing everyone.”
“Yes, of course.” Justine straightened up and started for the door. Gabriel smiled. Vicaquirao’s impersonation of Justine had not done the young woman justice. Her single-minded concern for the castle and her fellow mages belied a depth of character he found extremely commendable. “I have a quicker way.”
Justine turned to Gabriel as he enveloped them in Time Magic, warping space and depositing them a moment later in northern corner of the Upper Ward courtyard, near the impromptu triage station where the few remaining Heart-Tree Mages attended to their wounded comrades.
“They’ll need your help.” Gabriel watched Justine as she took in the scene before her, gasping slightly at the damage to the castle and the number of casualties.
“Of course.” Justine’s face assumed a mask of determination. She started toward the wounded and then paused, turning again to Gabriel. “Why did they send you to get me?”
“I, uh, I happened to be nearby.” Gabriel frowned at his unconvincing lie.
“Well, thank you.” Justine crossed the space between them and hugged him quickly. “I owe you one.” A grim smile on her face, she turned and ran to help her fellow Heart-Tree Mages.
Gabriel watched her for a moment, admiring her enthusiasm in the face of inexperience and possible danger. An instant later, he teleported back to the cellars beneath the castle. Teresa, Leah, and Liam looked at him as he emerged from the shadows of the alcove.
“Where’s Justine?” Leah asked, her small, round face pulled tight with concern.
“Yes. Where is Justine?” Teresa stood up, looking back around Gabriel.
“Justine is fine,” Gabriel said. “She wanted to help with the wounded.”
“Can we find Mommy and Daddy now?” Liam’s voice squeaked with anxiety.
“Very soon.” Gabriel looked to Teresa, silently imploring her to hold her questions.
“This had better be good,” Teresa whispered. “And why do you smell like lilacs?”
Gabriel ignored the inquiry as he turned to Leah and Liam, the back of his neck warm with a sudden, confused embarrassment.
“First we
need to take Elizabeth back to her office. Are you ready?” The two children nodded their heads in unison to Gabriel. Teresa squinted and crossed her arms. “Here we go.”
Gabriel took the children’s hands and gave them a reassuring squeeze as he teleported them all instantly through space to Councilwoman Elizabeth’s office. Ohin stood next to the desk, Marcus and Sema sat in chairs, while Ling and Rajan stood next to the window. Gabriel used Wind Magic to guide Elizabeth’s comatose form to the flower-upholstered settee, lowering her down gently.
“Where have you been?” Ling turned from looking out the window, her face twisted with impatience.
“We were about to send out a search party.” Marcus moved from his chair to kneel beside Elizabeth and examine her. Sema joined him.
“There’s been a complication.” Gabriel released the children’s hands and pulled the red notebook from his pocket.
“Where’s Justine?” Ohin looked between Teresa and Gabriel.
“Gabriel took her to help the wounded.” Teresa glared sideways at him, her eyes widening when she saw the notebook in his hand.
“She insisted.” Gabriel stared back at Teresa and waved the notebook slightly. “She said she’d spent the past two days feeling like an old Mayan general and needed to help.”
Gabriel didn’t want to mention Vicaquirao’s name with the two children in the room. They were terrified enough. No need to frighten them with the knowledge that Gabriel had left them in the care of an infamous Dark Mage pretending to be Justine.
“Oh!” Teresa gasped as she realized what had transpired.
“You mean…” Rajan began to say when Gabriel interrupted him.
“I mean we should discuss it after we find Leah and Liam’s parents.” He gazed down at the sister and brother. They looked worried and confused.
“There’s been no change with Elizabeth.” Marcus removed his hand from her forehead.
“The magic is still impenetrable.” Sema brushed a stray hair from Elizabeth’s face.
“We need to take her to Nefferati.” Gabriel looked to Ohin, gesturing again with the notebook. “I’ve been told only she might be able to save Elizabeth from the curse.”
“I assume this came from the usual informant.” Ohin glanced at Leah and Liam and frowned. He clearly didn’t like the stilted nature the conversation had taken to protect the children.
“Yes.” Gabriel slid the notebook into his back pocket. “I think he wanted me to…”
Gabriel stopped as waves of massive space-time distortions erupted around the castle. So many arrivals at once could only mean one thing.
“The castle is under attack again.” Ohin’s normally imperturbable face reflected the panic Gabriel felt grasping his chest, making it hard to breathe.
“Hundreds of them.” Rajan stared out the window at the courtyard. Gabriel and Teresa ran to his side. He instantly recognized the uniforms of the attacking Dark Mages.
“Kumaradevi.” Ling’s voice echoed with barely controlled rage.
“Attacking while we are weak.” Ohin stepped up beside them.
“She’s a coward, but she’s a cunning coward,” Rajan said.
“What do we do?” Teresa turned to Ohin, her eyes alight with fear and anger.
“You need to run.” Gabriel spoke before Ohin could part his lips to give an order. “You need to take Elizabeth and run.”
“You mean we all need to run,” Teresa said.
“No.” Gabriel looked past Teresa to see Leah and Liam clinging to each other as explosions began to rock the castle. “You all need to take Elizabeth and flee. You have to protect her. Kumaradevi will be looking for her. They may even know where this office is. You need to go now. I’ll meet you at the emergency rendezvous point.”
“I’m not leaving you here to fight alone.” Teresa pointed her finger at Gabriel.
“You have to,” Gabriel pleaded. “I can help defend the castle.”
“He’s right.” Ohin stepped between Gabriel and Teresa. “This time it makes sense to abandon us to fight alone. We need to protect Elizabeth.” He put his hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. “Go. And be careful.”
As Ohin removed his hand, Gabriel jumped through space, catching for an instant the image of Teresa leaping toward him. Then he floated two hundred feet above the ground, looking down as an army of Kumaradevi’s Dark Mages assaulted the castle.
A handful of Time Mages evacuated the wounded from the Upper Ward courtyard while a group of Dark Mages rained down balls of fire and tried to cause the earth to swallow people whole.
There were too many Dark Mages to count. Several times more than the number of Apollyons who had attacked the castle only a few minutes earlier. Far more than the scattered castle forces could effectively repel. Gabriel guessed at least a thousand Malignant Mages mounted the offensive. They would each possess concatenate crystals linked to Malignant imprints in Kumaradevi’s vile alternate reality kingdom.
Where was Kumaradevi? How could hope he to defeat her and her army?
Gabriel’s head swam with colors, his mind nearly collapsing into blackness as lightning erupted around him and the pull of gravity increased, yanking him toward the ground while a space-time seal slid into existence around him. Kumaradevi’s minions had found and attacked him. Her spies had probably relayed his tactics from the previous battle with the army of Apollyons.
Gabriel focused the enormous imprints at his disposal through the bracelet on countering the magical assault and dissolving the space-time seal. He tried to see where the attack had emanated from, but there were simply too many of Kumaradevi’s soldiers in the castle to ascertain its origin.
Not knowing what else to do, and having no time to formulate a plan, he jumped to the lawns of the North Terrace, appearing beside a group of three Grace Mages cowering behind a statue as two teams of Malignancy Mages bombarded them with dark magic, like cats playing with mice. As Gabriel appeared, he created a burst of gravity waves, sending the Dark Mages cascading through the air and colliding with trees and benches.
“Run!” Gabriel shouted to the three castle defenders. He didn’t wait to see if they followed his advice. He jumped through space again, landing atop the Brunswick Tower in the northwest corner of the Upper Ward. A team of Malignancy Mages already occupied the tower, using it to attack the wounded castle mages and the staff still trying to flee from the courtyard below. As they spun around, Gabriel used Wind Magic again, tossing the six Dark Mages high into the sky like black-clad cannonballs arcing through the air.
He stepped to the edge of the turret wall, looking out at the Upper Ward under siege. Buildings raged with fire or collapsed under volleys of Wind and Stone Magic. Most of the castle mages fled from the overwhelming numbers of Dark Mages. Some stood their ground, but were soon overcome by the superior numbers arrayed against them.
Gabriel needed a plan. There must be some way to turn back Kumaradevi’s army. He couldn’t use his previous method of attacking with magically concentrated sunlight. As things stood, there would be little enough left of the castle after the battle. He needed to find a way to defeat Kumaradevi and her forces directly.
A blur of motion and a burst of lightning caught his attention. Among the ruins of the Round Tower, Akikane battled two teams of Dark Mages, jumping between them and attacking with a fluid grace Gabriel knew all too well. Gabriel drew the Sword of Unmaking from behind his shoulder and jumped through space to join Akikane’s defense.
As Gabriel appeared in the smoking rubble of the Round Tower, a third team of Dark Mages joined the fray, immediately casting spells against him. Akikane gave Gabriel a look of encouragement and then leapt through space, his sword blazing like a small sun as it struck down a Dark Wind Mage. Gabriel seamlessly matched Akikane’s spontaneous flow of attack and defense, surrounding the Dark Mages in a haze of magic and metal as they jumped from place to place. As he attacked and jumped again and again, Gabriel realized he recognized several of the Dark Mages.
“The boy’s come for more lessons.” Malik, the Dark Time Mage who had led his training in the fighting pits of Kumaradevi’s palace during his captivity, smirked and spat in the dirt.
A wide curve of still-standing wall two stories high erupted in a burst of stone and dust, crashing into Gabriel, feeling like a small mountain had fallen upon him. Jin’s handiwork, Gabriel guessed. He protected himself with a shield of Wind Magic as the weight of the stones drove him to the ground. As he fell, he felt Malik trying to place a space-time seal around him as Bob the American attempted to subdue his mind into unconsciousness.
Gabriel focused the immense power of the imprints connected to the concatenate crystals of his bracelet and repelled the Time and Soul magic attacks against him. Using Wind Magic, he held the still-falling stones of the wall in midair as he stood up.
Bob’s Soul magic attack had given him an idea.
Gabriel let the boulder-like stones of the crumbled wall fall harmlessly to the ground as he reached out with a combination of Heart-Tree and Soul Magic to the brains and minds of the eighteen Dark Mages still attacking Akikane and himself. The Dark Mages froze where they stood, eyes rolling back into their heads as they slowly crumpled to the ground, deeply asleep.
“Very good, very good.” Akikane’s brilliantly shining sword returned to normal as he walked across a pile of debris toward Gabriel. “We are much safer when they are asleep.”
“I don’t think I can put all of them to sleep.” Gabriel wiped dust from his face and eyes. “There are too many of them.” He glanced around to see if more would attack. “Should we give the signal to abandon the castle?”
“Not yet, not yet.” Akikane kept his eyes searching the battle. “Our forces are too spread out. Too easy to attack. We need to mass our troops in one place and make a stand. Tell as many as you can to assemble in the Lower Ward near the Horse Shoe Cloister. We have a chance if we act quickly.”
“Right.” Gabriel watched Akikane disappear as the True Mage jumped through space again. He waited only a moment, long enough to spot two Grace Mages under attack near St. Georges Gate, before doing the same himself.
The Sword of Unmaking (The Wizard of Time - Book 2) Page 25