by Ben Hale
"How many have you killed to achieve this end, Alice? Do you even know?"
"They are the inevitable sacrifices for a greater world, and their blood helped us bring forth the Dark."
Hawk clamped down on his swelling rage. For now, he needed to gather as much information as he could.
"Did you think the mages would simply let you take the city?" Hawk asked.
"They already have. In this time of strife it is paramount that we protect our people. We must show the auren nations of Earth that we stand united. Even now my forces are preparing Auroraq to move. Soon we will join the leading edge of the Dark, and fly with it as it enforces our laws."
"Not all of the mages will join you, Alice." He began to close the gap between them. If he could get close enough to strike . . .
Alice bared her teeth in a smile. "Perhaps, but while you waited for your trial my Voidlings have subdued the vaunted battlemages. By this time tomorrow they will patrol all of Auroraq. As entities of the Dark, they have its power. No one will disobey my new government."
"And what of Tryton's?" Hawk asked quietly. "What do you intend with the children there?"
"Obedience must be upheld," Alice said. "If the mages are divided, the aurens may attempt to destroy us. Any attack on this city could result in much bloodshed at the school. Indeed many of the students at Tryton's have demonstrated an aptitude to act on their own, without thought to the consequences. My daughter is an example of this. We cannot allow this blatant disregard to cause harm to other children. For now, Voidlings will preserve the peace."
Hawk's lips tightened. With the students at Tryton's as leverage there would be few parents willing to fight. They would be hostages until their parents had proven their loyalty.
"Why?" he asked. "History has proven that depravity does not lead to virtue."
Her expression clouded. "I considered many courses of action, but the people of Earth have proven time and again that they cannot hold power. It poisons their souls like a cancer, and ultimately they use it to harm others. Removing their control will heal them. The Dark is the only way to accomplish that."
Hawk continued to advance, closing the distance to a mere twenty feet. "So why did you invite me to come?"
"You are the Guildmaster of the Guild of Light, dedicated to protecting the peace between aurens and mages. Yet in spite of your intentions you have caused bloodshed and havoc among our citizens." Her eyes glittered. "It's time that you faced the consequences of your crimes."
Hawk brow furrowed in annoyance. "Many—including yourself—have attempted to trap me before. Your predecessors have died in the effort. It is unfortunate that you cannot learn from their mistakes."
Her lips pulled into a smile. "Ah, but our intention is not to ensnare you, Hawk. It is to show the mage world who you are—and how dangerous you are to our immediate future." She gestured around the chamber. "Every moment since you have entered has been recorded, and is being sent to news orbs as we speak." His gaze hardened as she finished the statement.
Two can play this game, Hawk.
Hawk came to a stop as he realized the truth. Alice had been stripped of her anonymity, forcing her outside both the auren and mage worlds. Now she'd done the same to him—while claiming the city of Auroraq. His fleeting presence on the video had been insufficient to identify him before. That would no longer be the case.
He had thought that Tess's effort to reveal Alice to the world had slowed Alice. Now it appeared the Master of the Harbingers had only accelerated her plans. With her at the helm of Auroraq most of the mage population would have no choice but to follow her. And demonstrating in front of everyone Hawk's role would make them afraid to unite under him. In one fell swoop Alice had alienated all mages against Hawk, and consolidated her control over the mage world. As the battlemages began to drift in his direction, he nodded.
"I'm not afraid of your Voidlings."
Alice shook her head, her eyes sparkling with triumph. "We both know the Dark would kill you, but that would just make you a martyr. No, it's important they all see your true power."
So you can't unite them. Alice didn't need to say it. The implication was clear. Hawk's fingers tightened into fists, and fire began to curl up his arms.
"So be it."
Alice smiled . . . and then her body faded away. A moment later the battlemages advancing on his position also evaporated, leaving him the sole occupant in the chamber. Preparing himself to fight, Hawk spun a slow circle, confused by the sudden solitude. Then a grinding of stone warned him of another presence. His heart sinking, he looked to the twenty-four pillars that surrounded the chamber.
They had begun to change shape . . .
Chapter 17: Enraged
Hawk's phoenix side trembled with the desire to punish Alice, but his human side managed to stay in control. The morphing pillars ringed the chamber, preventing any thought of escape. At the same time the space wasn't quite large enough for him to become a firebird. If he transitioned now the host of stone entities would overwhelm him. His lips tightened. The huge stone golems would be highly resistant to his fire magic. Only his most powerful spells would harm them.
He glanced at the open office doors. Empty and inviting, they practically goaded him to attempt an escape through their windows. He didn't fall for it. They would surely be blocked by ward and curse. The lifts would be equally as blocked. That left only . . .
He smiled.
Taking a long breath, he gathered his magic. Tongues of flame cascaded off his body and exploded from his feet, lifting him off the ground. Shaping at his will, the fire below him became ten foot legs with clawed feet. Then he cast his strongest defensive spell.
The streaking flames became hotter, and then solidified into semi-solid fire. Knowing he had only seconds before the guardians finished changing and attacked, he threw his magic into a torso and arms. Powerful and as solid as the legs, the expanding fire engulfed his physical body. Huge arms erupted from his newly formed shape, bending at the elbows and terminating at enormous fists. Last he cast the head. Spiked and crackling, it too hardened into the fireflesh.
The first guardians were rising around him, fully formed as well. The fastest began to accelerate in his direction—but Hawk wasn't finished. Encased as he was in a twenty-foot figure of fire, he cast a fire-entity spell—and then melded with it. Becoming the fire giant, his consciousness shifted. Now stood on equal ground with his foes.
The first stone guardian was thundering toward him. Heedless of the objects in its path, it plowed through the chairs, scattering them in all directions. Others of its kind were following suit. Collectively, they issued a menacing rumble. Hawk continued to ignore them.
Ice formed on the ground and walls as he sucked every ounce of heat from the chamber. Then he put his fire palms together and rent them apart. In a wave of heat, his body shifted to white, and then the supreme blue fire. It maintained the solidity and malleability of flesh, yet chairs and the very floor began to melt from the fervent temperature. Out of time, Hawk pinched the fire on top of his right hand. Drawing it out, he fashioned a huge blade of solid blue fire . . .
—He ducked as the guardian reached him, and the stone fist whistled past him. Its surface bubbled and softened as it passed the supreme fireflesh that held Hawk. Hawk whirled, and swung his sword through the back of the stone golem. The thick rock split, severed in two. The floor vibrated as the stone entity's remains crashed into it, but Hawk had already moved on.
Taking the offensive, he surged into motion. The fireflesh of his legs worked like corded muscles, and his arms moved in harmony. Sidestepping a lunge, he severed the head of the next in line. Then he spun to face one that had approached from behind.
His sword was at the wrong angle to attack, so he ducked under the golem's outstretched arm. As he brought the sword back into position he cut the stone arm off at the shoulder. By then several others had arrived. Surrounded, Hawk became a blur of motion.
His sword cut th
rough the chest of one, and severed another's leg. Then a stone arm wrapped around his neck, tightening to immobilize him. The others moved in—but Hawk unleashed some of the captured heat and the entire arm melted into slag. The golem stumbled back while another swung to strike him. Too late to avoid, he turned with the incoming blow.
The stone fist was the size of a small car, and it sent him reeling. Fighting to gather his wits, he feigned injury and dropped to the floor. Raising his sword he allowed the pursuing golem to slam right into it.
Abruptly his phoenix side roared to the fore. Rage rippled through his fireflesh, causing it to shimmer and brighten. Spinning on his heels, he yanked the sword out the side of the golem, splitting it in two. It issued a groan as it fell.
His fury driving his action, he waded into the battle. Stone on all sides began to melt at the thousand degree temperature, but his sword did the most damage. Heightened by his rage, his weapon tore them asunder. Bits of slag and broken stone splattered the decimated High Council chamber. Twenty-foot stone golems cracked and fell as he struck with enormous power.
Cutting through so much stone, his sword began to lose its edge. Screaming at it, he forced it to turn into a shard of lightning, the purest form of fire. Unstable yet supremely lethal, the empowered sword rent stone with abandon, and golems fell on all sides.
But his charge came with a cost that his fireflesh paid. Many blows landed, and the wounds robbed him of power. Where they had impacted the blue fireflesh had weakened to white, yellow and orange.
But it was too late.
Down to three foes, Hawk didn't hesitate. Stepping to the nearest golem, he caught its throat with his free hand. Raising it off the floor, he used his sword to slay the others with two fast blows. Then he took two steps and slammed the last golem into the white High Council table.
Miraculously the table had escaped unscathed, but the huge stone golem crushed it like a steel truck landing on a tin can. Before it could roll out of the way, Hawk raised his shard of lightning and plunged it through the golem's chest with a bellow of victory. Fire and lightning exploded outward as Hawk's magic shattered the golem into oblivion.
Suffused with victory and indignation, he turned to the front of the High Council chamber. The piles of melted stone, smashed chairs, and broken debris trembled as he unleashed his fury in the bone-shattering cry of a phoenix.
"I am Reiquen, Son of the Ancient, Phoenix of Lumineia, Survivor of The Second Draeken War! Harbinger, human, or mage, no force on this world will stay my hand when I reach you, Alice!"
Hawk pulsed the lightning in his hand, fusing the shard into the floor of the destroyed High Council chamber. Then he cast it into an absolute solid. Much of its power was lost in the spell, but it would be nearly impossible to remove. Then he morphed into his phoenix shape.
His fireflesh phased into glowing feathers, wings, and huge clawed feet. Hooked beak and gold eyes defined his head. Growing and widening into his true form, Hawk issued a final cry of defiance. Now fighting the weariness from using so much magic, he nevertheless drew on his anger, gathering his power once more.
Fire cascaded off his wings as he launched himself upward. Exploding through the roof, he flapped his wings to gain altitude and then banked away. For the first time in six thousand years, he didn't care if anyone saw him. His piercing cry split the night again. A mix of anger, pride, and victory, it echoed throughout Auroraq as Hawk departed.
In his wake the remains of the High Council chamber were illuminated by the gaping hole in the room and the solid shard of lightning at its center.
Chapter 18: Entities of the Dark
Iris grabbed Tess's arm and spun her about. Before Tess could ask why, her roommate sent a flood of images into her mind—and Alice and Hawk filled her vision. Her breath caught, and fear prickled across her skin.
"Where?" Tess demanded.
"The Spirus," Iris said, "But it's too late—"
Tess had already stumbled into the air. Rocketing past the meal hall she soared between the trees. Just as she cleared the branches, the summit of the Spirus erupted in fire, and a great phoenix burst into the afternoon light. Tess shielded her gaze at the brilliance, and then flinched as Hawk issued his war cry.
Deafening and awesome, the sound caused every citizen of Auroraq to recoil. Then Hawk banked his way into the Cloudwall and disappeared. Her desire to help Hawk had faded to confusion, and Tess slowly descended back to the meal hall.
Tess dropped to Iris's side. "Please tell me that wasn't real."
Iris's expression had become bleak. "I can't believe it. Alice took the city."
"What do you mean? And how did you even see that? Did you crack the threads of the monitoring motes of the Spirus?"
Iris shook her head. "I didn't have to. It was broadcast throughout the news net."
Tess's eyes widened. "You mean . . ." Then she saw it.
The students around her were huddled over news orbs. Those that had seen the original message were replaying it for their friends. In minutes everyone at Tryton's would know what had happened.
"The battlemages wouldn't let this happen," Tess insisted. Her gaze turned in the direction of the Spirus, half expecting smoke and blasts of power to indicate a fight.
"I think the battlemages have been disbanded." Disbelief colored Iris's tone, and Tess whirled to face her.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Iris tapped Tess's arm again, and the view of thousands of battlemages trudging away from the Spirus filled Tess's vision. Her heart sank. How had Alice moved so fast? Her mind screamed to do something—anything—but there was nothing to do.
"We have to go," Iris exclaimed. "Tryton's students are being summoned to Star Hall."
The kids with news orbs shifted, and Tess saw Director Grayson's face as he ordered all the students to join an emergency assembly. The anxiety on his features added a sense of panic to the already nervous air. The crowd that had been headed to dinner turned toward the school amphitheatre. Others streamed from the dorms, leisure halls, and classrooms, joining the nervous throng.
Some of the kids frantically tried to contact their parents. Others watched the confrontation between Alice and Hawk on their news orbs. A few tripped because of their distraction, but their attention returned to the orbs without a word. Tess saw enough through the gaps to understand that Hawk had battled a number of stone golems before his exit through the roof. Tension and fear filled the air, seeping through the students until everyone understood what was at stake. Tess caught snatches of panicked conversations.
"Think we're being evacuated?"
"I can't reach my parents."
"Me either."
"Do you think the High Council is alive?"
Tess couldn't bear it, and warped the gravity around herself and Iris. Lifting them into the air, she flew above the milling students toward Star Hall. Landing hard next to a set of doors, they slipped inside and stood behind the last row of seats. The sense of tension was thick in the huge space, and many of the teachers were on their feet.
" . . . we are awaiting the arrival of a member of the High Council, who called this meeting just moments ago," Director Grayson was saying. "We have yet to ascertain the full nature of what is occurring, but I urge you to settle down . . ."
Several benches over she caught sight of Derek, Rox, and a few of their other friends. She made to join them, but Derek caught her gaze and shook his head. Frowning, she returned her attention to the pillar of light that dominated the center of the circular amphitheatre.
The emergency summons had brought the entire populace of Tryton's to Star Hall. The message had reached every student. Rather than alleviate concerns, it had heightened them. Tess automatically looked to Iris, but her roommate was far too distracted to answer.
" . . . can anyone hear me? I'm linking every thread with an inveriak charm. As soon as you hear this you need to contact me immediately—yes, I can hear you Wanda." Her voice had shifted to annoyed. "C
an you reach anyone outside the city? That's what I thought—forget your high score. This isn't some random hex. It's taken down the entire mage net . . ."
Students around them were starting to look, so Tess nudged Iris and she lapsed into harsh whispers. Tess felt a growing dread. Who would cut Iris off from the outside world? More importantly, what could?
A sudden hush swept the amphitheatre, and Tess craned her head to identify the source. When she did she felt the urge to shrink back into the shadows. What could he be doing here?
Varson flew straight to Director Grayson and alighted beside him. The director's expression clouded with fury, and magic burst across his frame. Varson made a dismissive motion, and the creature soaring beside him accelerated to the director.
"You have no right to be here . . ."
The Voidling extended its smoky arms to wrap around the director's throat, and the vertical mouth in its head seemed to breathe in the Director's magic. He wilted like a dry leaf cast into the fire. His magic evaporated as he fell to his knees. Black smoke issued from his eyes and mouth and his entire frame began to quake. A number of other professors were on their feet and rushing to the podium. Each was intercepted by other Voidlings and stopped cold.
"That's enough," Varson said, and the creature released Grayson.
He slumped to the floor, and Varson turned to the gathered students. Absolute silence greeted him, and his lips curled into a smile. Director Grayson, principal director of Tryton's Academy of Magic, struggled to rise.
"Students," Varson said. "I know that it is highly unusual for us to assemble you during the middle of a quad, but these are unusual times. As I'm sure you are aware, our oracle has seen fit to reveal magic to the auren world."
Tess shifted her feet as nearby students glanced at her. Instead of the animosity of the past few days, many bore expressions of uncertainty.