Infinities' Edge

by Andrew Dobell

  Reaching the walkway that hung above the club levels below, Amanda gave Tabitha a hug.

  ‘Hi, how you doing?’

  ‘We’re fine. As good as can be expected really. Come through and see Toni,’ she said and led the way to the doorway of the living space in the center of the cross-shaped walkway. As they closed in on the door, it opened from the inside and Toni appeared. Toni was the better looking one of the two in Amanda’s opinion, with long lustres dark hair and a classical beauty to her features. Even in the no effort outfit of an old pair of fitted jeans and camisole top that she wore today, mirroring Amanda’s outfit. She pulled on the second of the pair of sneakers she wore and stepped out onto the metal walkway to greet Amanda.

  ‘Hi there Mandy. Lovely to see you.’

  ‘And you Toni. It’s just been a while since I last saw you both and I wanted to pop by to see how you were.’

  ‘Yeah. Sorry about that, we just needed some time to ourselves after, well, you know.’

  ‘Yeah, I know. Well, I’m glad you’re okay,’ Amanda said as she leant her hip against the railing at the edge of the walkway. ‘You’ve both been through a lot recently, but we’ve all lost someone before and I just wanted you to know that we’re here to help if you need us.’

  ‘Thank you. We appreciate that,’ Toni said.

  ‘Yeah, thanks,’ Tabitha said.

  Looking at them both together now as Toni hugged Tabitha with one arm in a gesture of support, Amanda felt a little more confident in them and in their ability to cope with what they had been through. If she had to, she would say that based on this quick meeting, it looked to her that Toni was taking these losses worse than Tabitha was, but not by much.

  Getting through the loss of a good friend was never easy, and it was clear that Melissa was very close to these two, more like a sister than a friend. When Magi came together as a Coven, their Magical nature often served to separate them from their non-magical family and friends. The dangerous life of a Magus was no place for a Mortal really. This often meant that the friends that the Magi made in the Magical community, the Coven they became part of, served as more of a family unit to them than anything else.

  The loss of those people always hit hard.

  ‘That’s no problem,’ Amanda said, smiling. And looked down to see Howie on the VIP level below, sat on the edge of one of the tables down there, looking at something on his Cell Phone.

  Amanda sensed the flare of Magical energy at the same time as Toni and Tabitha based on their reaction to it. The feeling was one she had felt several times before and had always been a sign of danger. Amanda quickly shifted her senses into the Magical Spectrum once again and quickly confirmed that, as expected, the Aegis on the club had been ripped apart.

  Fuelling her Aegis, bringing it up to full power, Amanda leant out over the walkway to look into the club below.

  One floor down, Howie still sat on the table, oblivious to the Magic happening around him. Amanda scanned around, looking to the dance floor below the VIP area on the ground floor, but saw nothing.

  Toni and Tabitha followed Amanda’s lead and looked over the balcony as well.

  ‘What was that?’ Toni said.

  ‘Someone just destroyed your Aegis,’ Amanda said. ‘I’ve no idea who yet, but when an Aegis around a building drops, it’s never a good sign.’

  ‘Yeh think?’ Tabitha said, sarcasm dripping from her reply.

  Amanda let the remark pass, they were not in a great place and if she had to guess, given the timing of this, happening just as Amanda visited, it wouldn’t surprise her if this attacker was actually after her. So she had just brought danger to the girl's doorstep.

  A loud deep explosion sounded from the ground floor. As they watched, smoke and debris flew onto the dancefloor below them from one side of the building. Magic had done this, the flare of powerful Magical energy being used was clear as day to Amanda’s arcane senses.

  As she watched, a nexus of Essentia moved through the debris and onto the dancefloor, visible as only a dark shadow to the naked eye through the cloud of dust that billowed out from the explosion.

  Howie had jumped up and ran to the balcony of the VIP area and was now also looking down at the ground floor.

  As the dust started to settle, a cloaked form materialised, and as she got a better look at this attacker, Amanda felt sure she knew who this person was, although she had never seen them before.

  The person looked up, revealing very dark skin, with a face covered in white paint shaped to look like a skull. Their head was surrounded by thick dreadlocks, adorned with jewellery, trinkets and bones.

  Amanda felt sure this was Nymira, the Voodoo Queen, an Arch Master Magus and mentor to Lucian, the former self-styled king of New York.

  She wore some kind of heavy looking cloak, made from layers of material, leather and skins, adorned in feathers, animal skulls and other things she couldn’t make out.

  As Amanda looked down on her, Nymira looked up, finding Amanda in the darkness of the roof space. A sneer of hatred grew on Nymira’s face as she looked up, making Amanda feel suddenly very much out of her depth.

  ‘Hey, you,’ Howie shouted, clearly with no understanding who he was talking too and the danger he was putting himself in.

  ‘Feck,’ Amanda cursed looking away from Nymira, they needed to get out of here and protect Howie. Nymira was here for her, but Amanda felt sure that she would kill her friends without a second thought as well. She could try and fight against this Arch Magus, but she doubted she would last long against someone of her rank.

  So she made her choice and started to pull the Essentia to her, shaping it with her thoughts. As her Magic worked, Amanda sensed a new and more powerful Aegis spring up around the building, fuelled up by the Magic of Nymira. Porting out of here had suddenly become much more difficult, if not impossible for the time being. Nymira didn’t want anyone to leave this building, she wanted to have her revenge.

  ‘Feckin’ feck,’ Amanda cursed once more and looked back down at the Nomad.

  Nymira smiled back up at her. ‘Come out little mouse, the cat wants to play,’ she said.

  Howie looked up at her, Amanda glanced at Howie, and then back at Nymira. Nymira followed her gaze to Howie and then briefly back up to Amanda. The look on Nymira’s face chilled her and Amanda knew she had to protect Howie, now.

  Amanda reached out with her Magic and conjured an Aegis around Howie, and not a moment too soon as visible green and yellow energy flew from Nymira’s small hand gesture and smashed against the invisible shield. Howie staggered back in surprise as the edge of the balcony disintegrated just in front of him. She needed to get down there, she could protect him better if she were close to him.

  ‘Follow me down,’ Amanda said as she took one step back and vaulted the railing on the edge of the walkway and dropped to the floor below, landing with a bang beside Howie who yelped in surprise as she appeared next to him without warning.

  Half a second later, Tabitha and Toni followed suit, and with her next thought, Amanda pushed her Aegis out and surrounded all four of them in her shield.

  Nymira moved, and an incredibly powerful Essentia blast of more green and yellow energy, visible to a Mortal such as Howie, hit Amanda’s Aegis like a freight train. Her Aegis hissed and popped with the golden energy of her own Magic as they were thrown from their feet, landing twenty foot away, demolishing tables and chairs as they went.

  They were hurt, bruised and scratched, but the Kinetic aspect of her shield protected them from the worst effects of the fall.

  Amanda looked over to Howie as she picked herself up, brushing her long red hair behind her ear. He sat on the floor with a look of complete confusion, fear and bewilderment on his face. His eyes were wide, his mouth hanging open and mouthing words that never really found proper vocalisation.

  What a way to be introduced to Magic, she thought. Well, provided she could get them out of here, she would take it upon herself to explain everything
to Howie, and hopefully, he would be able to deal with it. But, for now, she had other priorities.

  Looking back in the direction that they had been thrown from, Magic flared before her once more as Nymira Ported up to the first floor in a burst of dark smoke like energy and started to walk towards them.

  Amanda watched the cloak flare out around Nymira as she walked, revealing the Voodoo Queens ebony skin marked with white and red war paint. She wore little beneath that cloak. Only a pair of small golden disks covered her nipples while a long thin sash covered in bones and markings hung down in front of her crotch. She wore fur covered boots with bones dangling from strings and animal skulls for decorations. Other than that, she adorned her body and legs with more bones, ribs and animal horns that contoured her body, as if they were some kind of armour.

  Howie yelped in fright at her sudden appearance, as Amanda rose to her feet.

  ‘Your fight is with me, let them go, and I won’t run from you.’

  ‘Run from me little mouse? You can’t run from me, and as for your friends, they will die first, fair’s fair after all,’ Nymira said, referencing Amanda’s killing of Lucian.

  ‘You can try,’ Amanda said. She knew Nymira was right, there was no way they could get through that Aegis that she had thrown up around them to stop them from Porting away while also defending themselves from Nymira’s attacks, which left only one option really.

  ‘I will,’ Nymira answered and suddenly threw a staggering amount of energy at Amanda and her friends.

  Amanda was not your typical Magus, though, and one effect of the strange energy that had hit her on the Atoll had been a boost to Amanda’s power level.

  The ability of a Magus to use Magic was ranked in two, or three parts. Firstly all Magi had a rank. From apprentice, through to Adept, Knight, Sage, Master and finally Arch Master, this ranked the skill the Magi had in Magic, their knowledge, what they could do.

  The second measure was Power. Separate from Rank, this was dictated by the Magi’s connection to Essentia and although it grew slowly over time, it was not dictated by the Skill of the Magus and was more of just their inherent strength. A Magus of lesser skill, such as a Knight, could potentially fight and maybe win against a Master if the power level of the Knight was higher than the masters. Of course, the Master would have a greater range of skills and experience to draw from, and as with any fight, the situation played a large part in how much time and care a Magus could put into their Magic, this being the third measure of a Magi’s ability. A rushed casting of a complex effect could fall apart or backfire during the stress of a fight, which was why most Magi prepared their Aegis in advance and relied on just throwing Essentia or fire and things at their opponents rather than some of the other more complex things they could do.

  When things descended to the level of a fight, you usually just wanted to kill the other person or keep the other person from killing you, so getting all flashy with complicated Magic was idiotic.

  Nymira wanted Amanda dead and needed to get through Amanda’s Aegis to kill her. Knowing this, Amanda just flooded her Aegis with energy keeping its strength high and Nymira’s Magic out.

  Amanda clenched her fists and concentrated hard, quickly using her Multitasking effect to split her mind into several parts, most of which she just used to power her Aegis.

  Amanda already had a mental link to the twins and sent a message along it, telling them to come in closer to her. She then sent a small mental nudge to Howie, getting him to get closer to her also as the attack from Nymira faded.

  Looking up, Amanda noted the look of confusion on the Voodoo Queens face, and a smile played on one side of Amanda’s mouth. Nymira had underestimated Amanda’s power.

  ‘You’re strong little one, stronger than I had given you credit for,’ Nymira said.

  Amanda stood in front of her friends and looked hard into the dark soulless eyes of this Arch Master, but said nothing in reply, waiting for her to hit her again with her Magic.

  ‘But you can’t stand against me forever. I will break through your defences, of that you can be sure.’

  Amanda knew she was right. Powerful she might be, but Nymira was more skilled and, judging from the fact that her Magic was breaking down her Aegis faster than she could build it back up, slightly more powerful.

  Nymira’s Magic hit her again, and as it did, with her one free mind, hidden behind the powerful flare of thundering Essentia, Amanda reached out and shaped the Essentia around her, opening the barrier into the Abyss. All four of them dropped through and the scene around them changed.

  They were still in the Club, but the blue-tinged darkness of the Abyss changed everything as silence filled the air. The noise of Nymira’s Magical attacks abruptly ending with the change of scenery.

  Amanda relaxed and took a breath, they were safe, relatively, for the moment.

  ‘Is this…?’ Tabitha asked quietly.

  ‘What the fuck is going on?’ Howie said, his voice raised.

  Amanda put a finger to her lips and shushed him. ‘Quiet Howie, we’re not out of the woods yet.’

  He looked scared, and looked around him at the strange and yet also familiar building they were in. The sounds of the city had gone, and the silence of the Abyss made the noisy Material world they had been in moments ago seem almost deafening.

  Amanda crouched down near to Howie and the girls. ‘Howie, I can’t explain everything to you right now, we might have escaped the immediate danger we were in, but this place is not safe either,’ she said, before turning to the girls. ‘Yes, this is the Abyss, and we can’t stay here long, we need to leave, to go back to the Material world, but we need to move first.

  Looking around her, they were clearly still in the converted church of the Darkside Nightclub. The interior of the club seemed basically similar if somewhat decrepit and slowly falling to ruin, so she concentrated and worked on placing her senses inside the building that matched her House in the Material world.

  Her second set of senses appeared inside the building she had first come to on her first trip to the Abyss. It was where she expected it to be and still in the same ruined state she had first found it in.

  Everything looked clear, so, leaving those senses there, she concentrated back onto her friends. ‘Okay, we’re good to go. Howie, this will feel a little strange, but you will be fine.’

  ‘Wait, what are we doing?’ Howie asked.

  ‘Teleporting,’ Amanda said, and worked her Magic.

  Appearing on the ground floor of the ruined house that matched her home, Howie let out a worried yelp and put his hands on the ground to steady himself as the sudden strong but fleeting feeling of dislocation passed through him.

  He looked about himself, his eyes wide in fright once again. ‘Whoa!’ he said.

  Amanda smiled.

  Part of the roof fell in suddenly, the loud sound of falling stone and debris shattering the quiet of the Abyss.

  Falling with the stone and landing on the ground floor, a huge inhuman looking thing, roared at them from the dust and debris of the collapsed ceiling, its huge fang filled maw dripping gross looking spit as it did so.

  Amanda didn’t want to waste any more time here, and worked her Magic once again, dragging her friends back through the barrier of Acheron and into the Material world of her front room, filled with colour, light and noise.

  Liz, who sat in a nearby seat, jumped in surprise as they appeared in the room, Amanda stood up looking ready for action, Toni and Tabitha crouched nearby and Howie sat on the carpet looking around him at the room, waiting for the next threat to appear.

  ‘Jesus!’ Liz said, her Aegis flaring up in a reaction to the possible danger. Amanda looked around her, confirmed where they were and relaxed.

  ‘Aaah, at last, we’re back.’

  ‘Are… are you sure? Are we safe now? What the hell happened?’ Howie blurted out.

  Amanda felt bad for putting Howie through that. Such a sudden and scary introduction to Magic w
as never the best way to find out that it existed. But, it had been the only way, otherwise, he would have been dead. She walked over and crouched down next to him, putting her hand on his shoulder.

  ‘Howie, it’s ok, you’re safe now,’ she said.

  Howie looked up at her, his eyes wide and filled with fear and questions. ‘What are you?’ he said.

  Amanda opened her mouth to speak, to answer that question, but then closed it again and had a rethink. ‘Hold that thought, I will tell you everything, but I just need to speak with my friends here first. Here. Come here, sit down for a moment,’ she said as she guided him to one of her soft comfy chairs.

  Feeling sure he was settled, she walked over to Toni and Tabitha who had stood up and were hugging each other. They separated and looked at Amanda.

  ‘Thank you, Mandy, you were Awesome,’ Toni said.

  ‘Yeah, that was incredible. I can’t believe we’ve been to the Abyss,’ Tabitha said.

  ‘Yeah, how did you do that?’

  Amanda smiled. ‘Well, I’m the chosen one, you know?’

  ‘The chosen one?’ Tabitha asked.

  ‘You’ve not heard the rumours? They’re all over the Dark Web,’ Amanda said smiling. She glanced over at Liz as she spoke and caught her giving her a strange look, with one eyebrow raised. Amanda wasn’t sure what to make of that but turned back to the girls to continue their chat.

  ‘No… we don’t go online much,’ Tabitha answered.

  ‘Well, it’s a whole thing, I’ll tell you later,’ she said. ‘Look, you can stay here for a bit, you can’t go back to the Club for a while and I wouldn’t recommend going to your apartment either as she probably knows where that is too. You can have the same room as the last time you were here, okay?’

  The girls smiled at her and a few moments later, disappeared upstairs. Amanda watched them go and took a deep breath. That had been a truly scary moment, but she suddenly felt incredibly alive and full of energy. Maria had said to live life because tomorrow a Nomad could kill you. Well, today was yesterday’s tomorrow, and a Nomad had tried to kill her. Tried and failed. Amanda felt like jumping for joy, she wanted to whoop and holler her lust for life. Taking on a legendary Arch Magus like Nymira was not something she had thought she could do, but she had, and she had survived.