by Ben Hale
"On your knees!" Kate shouted.
Leaf turned to face her and sneered. Pointed and angular, his features reminded her of a sleazy teacher she'd once had. Blood dripped from his leg and his arm looked broken. Clenching it to his side, he spoke with fury in his voice.
"You refuse to know when to die," he growled. "It is the end of your kind, and you can't accept it."
"We will stop you," Kate said. Wary of his power, she kept her distance. Under her breath she spoke into her radio. "Requesting backup in the stadium. I have the target."
He released a high, haughty laugh that ended in a wince. "You have no idea what the Master is capable of. She has planned for everything, and you will not succeed. She has the power to kill anyone on Earth."
Footsteps pounded behind her, but she kept her gun trained on Leaf. "It's only a matter of time until the portal is closed," she said, "and the Dark is finished."
His gaze did not waver. "You don't even know what you are looking for. Perhaps when you fail you will finally accept your fate. You are all dead," he spit on the ground, "and nothing is about to save—"
—the column of fire pierced the sky and struck Leaf like a bolt of lightning. Kate was knocked backward by the blow. Her teeth locked from the crackling energy, and she fought to keep her body from shaking. She managed to rise enough to see Leaf's body torn apart by the attack. The next instant the mystery weapon subsided, leaving a smoking, charred circle where Leaf had stood. The surviving members of the task force arrived in time to see his twisted corpse stop glowing.
"Trask is down," Sam said. "What happened?"
Kate looked at his bloodied face, but had no answer.
Chapter 23: Mother
Tess hurried to her room after her final class. With the curfew and the prowling Voidlings it was the only safe place to be. Every day the students of Tryton's huddled in packs, as if in a group they could avoid Drake’s or the Voidlings’ scrutiny. They may not have realized it, but their behavior was mirrored outside the school. Alice had every advantage, and even the former battlemages seemed wary of attacking her directly. Those that had were dead, discouraging further attempts. Uncertainty prevailed on Auroraq like a stifling fog.
They were mages, but they had never experienced such strife. Even their parents and grandparents had been raised in times of peace. The mage world hadn't experienced such calamity in thousands of years, and no one knew how to react.
Two days ago the city had reached Europe. The auren news had been flooded with reports of sightings, demonstrations, and rioting. Newscasters had issued repeated warnings not to fire at the floating city, but many had disregarded it. Auroraq may have been soaring twenty thousand feet above them, but a host of overzealous citizens had raised their guns to the sky. More often than not they succeeded in injuring neighbors or inciting more fear. This was magnified after a wing of British jets had flown past the city.
The techno shroud that protected the city flared with magic, searing every electronic chip in them to hunks of plastic. In quick succession they tumbled from the sky, leaving smoking craters on the outskirts of London. A handful of flyers managed to eject in time. Any subsequent flybys kept their distance, but the damage had been done. Auren militaries were reluctant to attack the sky city after the display of power. The mounting fear in England was nothing compared to that in the region surrounding Mt. Elbrus.
The Dark had swallowed several countries already, and its leading edge continued to expand. Hundreds of thousands had fled Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. Heedless of government edicts, more and more refugees crossed borders in such volume that border patrols were forced to let them pass. Those that stayed behind joined the ranks of Twisted inside the cloud.
No one escaped.
The rising list of dead eroded Tess's hope on an hourly basis, and her determination was failing her. She wished Hawk would find a way to sneak into the city. He could always bolster her hope.
She sighed as she pushed into her room. "I'm sorry I'm late, Iris," she said.
Iris grinned. "I've been waiting for this for months. Let's get started. Sit down and clear your head. Then tap into the surface threads."
Tess did as requested, and the few techno threads she'd learned to identify appeared to her magesight. One connected to her omni-glasses, and it was the one she'd used the most. Another connected to Iris.
"Now go deeper," Iris said. "Try to see all of them. They will be faint at first, but let them talk to you."
Tess did, and after a moment a host of other threads flickered into view. Each seemed to call for her attention. She struggled to focus while Iris talked, but the flow of information from the threads refused to stop. Iris had previously taught her how to send and receive messages, but that was the sum of her experience.
"How many threads can you see?" Iris asked for the third time, a trace of impatience in her tone.
"Too many," Tess replied.
It was an understatement. There were thousands of threads streaking past her eyes. They varied in thickness, shades of purple, and vibrancy. Some glittered like gold dust, while others sparkled like shooting stars. All pulsed with power.
"Do you see the one coming from my mind to you?" Iris asked.
"There's a hundred just coming from you," Tess said.
Iris gave a dismissive wave. "Focus on the one from me and see if you can open it. If you do it right you should see it unravel."
Tess did, and saw the weave of energy diffuse—at the same time the others did. Before she could stop it they burst with information and cascaded at her.
"—on sale now for $13.99" a TV blared, but was interrupted by the chatter of someone else. "I got the shotty, you want to jump on the warthog?" The answer was cut off when there was a humming buzz of high-pitched static, as if she could actually hear the wireless signal. Then suddenly the voices began talking to her, and the images joined them. As they bombarded her she struggled to answer.
"You want to meet up and study tomorrow?"
"I can't, I have—"
"—Your mom suffered minor injuries on a mission, but she'll be fine—"
"Dad? Is Mom—"
"I won't be able to visit Auroraq, so you must be vigilant in my absence—"
"Hawk? I need to talk to you—"
"Tess, you should come check out the new enchanted shirt collection at—"
"I can't, I—"
"Come visit Roasters for a—"
"Tess, you need to—"
"I—"
"You need to—don't forget to—your homework assignment is—why don't you—Tess!—Stop talking so fast!—water practice—Harbingers—Tryton's—"
The voices came in rapid succession, too quick for her to identify speaker or meaning. Bewildered, she answered as well as she could—the words tumbling from her mouth but they couldn't seem to respond—why couldn't they respond?—what do they mean?—is Mom hurt?—who are you? I can't—
The slap rocked her sideways, and in an instant all of the voices evaporated from her mind. She found Iris an inch from her face, her gaze intense.
"Did you just hit me?" Tess asked. She rubbed her cheek to ease the sting. Stel morphed into large steel jaws and lunged, but Tess managed to restrain him from biting her roommate.
"Physical pain pulls you out of the threads. Sometimes it’s the only way to force a techno mag into the real world." Iris's voice held no apology, but she retreated to her bed.
"What happened?" Tess asked.
"You fell into the threads," she replied. "Eventually you probably would have found your way into just one of them, but it could have been a while—Wanda, I said to talk to Willow about that, or Uri."
"Is that what's it like for you all the time?" Tess asked.
Iris shrugged, her attention divided. "It used to be, until I learned the charms to fade the unnecessary junk. You're lucky it doesn't come naturally to you. The stronger the techno mag, the louder the threads."
"But how do you get any information at
all?" Tess exclaimed.
"You use charms to sift through the threads, and suppress the others from opening." She paused, and then added, "Uri wants me to tell you it's like searching for a needle in a haystack all the time."
"Er . . . can he see us?" Tess asked.
Iris snorted. "Of course not. I told you I've warded our room. When you fell into the threads you became visible to others." She frowned and shifted to the wall of purple runes behind her. "That reminds me, I need to . . ."
She lapsed into muttering to others, and didn't return for a few minutes. While she was busy Tess hesitantly tapped into the single thread connected to the glasses in her pocket and accessed her messages. She wasn't surprised to find one from her father and one from Hawk. She'd caught snippets of the comments during her foray into the threads, but reading them in their entirety left a pit in her stomach.
Hawk wasn't coming back?
A sense of solitude settled on her, and abruptly she felt the need to get out. Rising, she strode to the door.
"Keep an eye on the curfew," Iris said over her shoulder.
"How could I forget," Tess replied.
She reached for the door and swung it open, and found a woman standing on the other side with her hand raised to knock.
"Er . . . can I help you?" Tess asked.
"Is Iris here?" the woman asked.
"Who is . . ." Iris turned to the door and her expression froze.
"Hello, Iris," the woman said. "May I come in?"
Iris nodded, her expression rigid in shock, and the woman strode inside. Tess blinked when she realized the resemblance. Right down to the black hair with purple streaks, the woman was a taller, paler version of Iris.
"Is this . . . ?" she couldn't finish the question.
Iris didn't respond. Tears filled her eyes as she closed the distance in a rush and hugged her mother. Tess retreated, uncertain and confused. Now that the woman was inside Tess noticed that her skin was faded, and her whole frame appeared frail, as if the muscles of her body had been re-grown recently.
They parted, and the woman turned to Tess. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm Trina, Derek and Iris's mom. I've heard so much about you."
"How are you here?" Iris asked, her voice shy and breathless. "You haven't left the facility in ten years—and how are you focused on us?"
Trina smiled. "May I sit? I'm still not used to standing."
Tess gestured to her, and the woman sank into a desk chair with a sigh of relief. "That's better," she said.
Iris suddenly blinked, and her eyebrows shot up in alarm. "Your magic is gone."
Trina nodded. "They took it from me so I could learn to focus. The first few days were . . . painful."
The haunted look in her eyes gave Tess the idea it had been worse than she indicated, but she focused instead on the more important question.
"Who's they?"
Trina smiled. "Your mother, of course. Alice has been so kind to me."
Tess's mouth went dry and her thoughts spun to a halt. "Alice did this to you?"
"She stripped my magic and allows me limited access," Trina said. "I'm still recovering, but I can go a few hours without my magic before I . . .," she looked away. "I'm doing much better now."
Tess swallowed the knot of fear. Why had Alice done this? Why help Trina and send her here? Her gaze sought Iris’s, but her roommate's expression did not display the turmoil that Tess felt.
"I haven't seen you look me in the eye since I was a child," Iris said. The wonder in her eyes made Tess sick.
What was Alice doing?
"I know," Trina said, and passed a shaking hand over her face. "And I hope you will forgive me, daughter. After your father left . . ." She twitched and looked away, the pain distorting her features. "I'm sorry." She finished in a whisper.
"Why did Alice send you?" Tess asked. She tried to keep her voice casual, but Iris shot her a look.
"She's worried about you—both of you," Trina said. "She wants you to trust her."
"I can't do that," Tess said.
A shadow passed over Trina’s face. "You must, or she will—I just need you to trust me." She turned to Iris. "I need you to forgive me."
"Of course I forgive you," Iris exclaimed. She darted close and gave her a fierce hug. "All that matters is that you came back."
Trina hugged her, and then rose to her feet. Shaky now, she said, "I must go. I'm not yet strong enough to be gone from my magic for very long."
"Please stay," Iris pleaded, but Trina shook her head.
"We'll get more time if you come to me. We can meet in the Spirus. Alice made it clear you would be allowed to pass."
She hugged Iris again and then stepped to the door. "I love you, Iris."
Tears filled Iris's eyes. "I love you too, Mom." Then Trina was gone.
Tess stepped to her roommate’s side. "We need to find out why Alice sent her, fast. I can't believe she is using your mother to manipulate us—"
"She's back," Iris rounded on her. "That's all that matters."
"We need to figure this out," Tess said urgently. "Alice sent her here for a reason."
"I haven't seen my mother look at me in ten years," Iris exploded. "She hasn't said 'I love you' or given me a hug, or even smiled at me. My only contact has been half sentences of gibberish since I was five. I don't care how she's here. She's my mom.
"You don't understand, Tess. You have a mother, a great one. You don't know what it's like to feel discarded like a piece of trash, like you aren't worth fighting for." Iris's jaw tightened as she struggled against the wave of emotion. "You grew up loved. I grew up alone."
"Iris," Tess pleaded, "you have to see that Alice is using your mom."
"Don't forget the curfew," Iris bit the words off. "I wouldn't want you to get punished." She pointedly turned away and faced her techno wall.
The sudden appearance of Iris's mom could not be ignored, especially because Alice was involved. Alice's idea of helping the world meant the slaughter of billions. Tess didn't look forward to finding out why she'd helped Trina. Releasing a breath, Tess lifted Stel to her neck and left.
Chapter 24: Siarra's Refuge
Tess strolled down the darkened paths of Tryton's without direction. Why had Alice sent Trina to them? What could she hope to gain? She was worried about Iris, and hated the idea of Alice trying to manipulate her. She wished she could talk to Derek, but he wasn't answering her messages. She would have to wait until tomorrow. Reluctantly she turned her attention to Alice herself. She desperately needed to move forward on her plan, but was no closer to finding a place to prepare in secret.
She had no way of knowing the motivations for Alice to send Trina, and she wasn't sure she wanted to find out. Aurens were dying, and Tess needed something to hold onto—especially now. The urge to rise into the air came, but she forced it aside. She couldn't risk a Voidling catching her.
Her gaze on her feet, Tess issued a regretful sigh, recalling the sense of absolute freedom that flying conveyed. She hadn't realized until now how much it had helped her retain her hope. Her footfalls heavy, she ultimately trudged to the fire school. Halfway there she passed two students that had been caught by the Voidlings. Their eyes an opaque black, their faces were etched with horror.
Her stomach tightened, and she turned away from the disturbing sight. She kept her head down as she entered the fire school. Twice she passed groups of students, and she did her best to smile at them. The environment at Tryton's had caused many to stop blaming Tess. Manifested in sidelong looks of hope or whispered words of encouragement, the other students apparently no longer thought she'd made the wrong choice.
Each of the twelve schools at Tryton's contained their signature practicum rooms and tutors. The earth school's practicum rooms were little more than a cube of space with a pile of rocks in the middle. Its sentinel was a small white golem nicknamed Egg.
Some were exactly what she expected, like subterranean gardens at the plant school. Others were far more
unique, like the ring chambers at the water school. The water sprite that tutored the students was one of the few remaining in the world, and led a trio of water entities in the tutoring. In spite of the variety in the practicum rooms, it was the fire practicum chambers that Tess favored.
Descending to the lowest sub-basement, she chose a corridor and followed it to the end. On either side the metal doors were oval rather than square. Collectively, they were the Ironguard, trainers for the practicum rooms. Selecting the last on the end, she approached the door and waited as a face pushed out of the metal.
Almost liquid in texture, the features of the metallic face were twisted in a smile. "You are a master of fire, and yet you come to practice so often?" The door's voice was a weighty echo.
"I know that curfew is in a few minutes, but I wanted to study further. Would that be possible?"
"At this hour we have been instructed to refuse entry to students," the door replied. "But I don't believe the instructions included masters of the craft. You may enter."
Tess blinked. Did the door just defy Drake? Or was it just following the letter of the command? Either way she was grateful for the acceptance. Murmuring her gratitude, she entered the chamber.
The floor, ceiling, and walls bore scorch marks from past fire spells. Ensconced in an alcove opposite the door, a fire source burned, ready to be siphoned for spells. Tess had intended on practicing her work, but now that she was here she had lost the inclination to do so. Sighing, she gestured to the floor and raised a chair for herself out of the stone. She sank into it and stared at the fire. Stel stirred on her neck, and she stroked his back.
"Something on your mind?" a rumbling voice asked.
She glanced over her shoulder to find the door's face looking at her. Its large steel eyes were concerned.
"Can you keep secrets?" Tess asked.
There was a rumbling laugh. "We have been asked by many to guard their thoughts . . . or actions." Its lips curled into a smile. "If you do not wish yours known we are honor bound to protect them—unless they can cause harm."